The Other Weasley
by Istillwishiwasaweasley
Summary: The press, and once her own father, call her 'The Other Weasley' and Molly knows it's true. She doesn't fit in with her amazing and talented family and she fears she never will. But when mysterious flowers and letters start arriving will she turn to her family for help? Molly's life begins to spin out of control and she feels like she has no one to turn to.
1. August

August

Molly Weasley watched her family eat and talk and laugh together and, as always, she felt like she really didn't belong. She had thought that once she 'found herself' and figured out who she was she would fit in more but it hadn't happened. She still didn't know who she was and she certainly didn't feel like she was a member of the Weasley family.

It was the last Sunday gathering before the younger kids returned to Hogwarts and Molly wondered if she would say more when that had happened, perhaps when she thought she might actually be heard.

"Alright, Molly?" Asked Ted from next to her, he was holding hands with Victoire who was talking to her mother. Molly looked at him and nodded.

"I'm fine, just…"

"LILY LUNA POTTER, DO NOT UTTER A SINGLE SPELL!" Came her Aunt Ginny's loud voice from across the table, Molly jumped and looked over to where Lily and Hugo were sat, Lily had her new wand out and did look on the verge of performing magic.

"I was just…"

"Wand, now!" Ordered her father and she grumpily handed her wand over to him who put it in his cloak. The family lapsed back into conversation as if there had been no interruption and Ted started talking to his girlfriend leaving Molly lost in her own thoughts again.

She was nineteen now and she still felt as unsure of herself as she had ever felt. She was the 'Other Weasley', that was what the papers called her, that was what Molly had once overheard her father calling her as well. She was the only Weasley not in Gryffindor (she had been a Hufflepuff), she was the only Weasley that didn't have even a hint of red-hair (hers was a dark blond/light brown), and she was the only Weasley who wasn't amazing.

"Molly?" Hugo asked quietly, he had stood up and walked around the table to reach her.

"Yeah?" Molly replied, she often thought she had a kindred spirit in Hugo, he was also quiet and shy, the family thought he'd grow out of it but Molly hoped that he wouldn't.

"If I get stuck at school, can I owl you?" He asked, leaning against the back of Lucy (Molly's _perfect_ twin sister's chair), Molly was about to reply when Lucy snorted.

"Molly wouldn't be much help, Hugo, you can owl me though." She said, laughing. Molly was going to shoot a death glare at her sister but decided she couldn't be bothered.

"But Molly went…" Hugo started but Lucy cut across him.

"She only got 3 NEWT's and they were in easy subjects so…"

"Shut up, Lucy." Snapped Victoire, looking over at her.

"Just trying to help Hugo." Lucy replied,

"No you weren't you were trying to belittle…"

"Just stop it, both of you. Hugo, you can owl me if you want, I'm sure even I can manage first year stuff, Lucy." Molly said quietly, Lucy rolled her eyes but didn't reply.

"Molly, have you asked Stuart Banks about an appraisal yet?" Her father asked, looking at her from across the table. Percy Weasley was now Minister for Magic and Molly knew he was embarrassed that his daughter was still a junior officer in the Muggle-worthy excuse committee (MWEC) rather than fully qualified, like Lucy was in International Magical Cooperation.

"No, we're quite busy at the moment." Molly replied, trying to control her blush.

"Molly if you don't ask, you won't get. You have to try and better yourself, you've been there for over a year now." Molly nodded but did not reply, she rarely replied to her father when he bothered her about work.

"I'm sure you'll be qualified soon, Molly." Said Brian from next to Lucy. Brian Matthews was Lucy's boyfriend of just over a year. He was charming, well-connected, and attractive, all of the things Lucy looked for in men. And all the things her parents wanted for their daughters.

"Thanks." Molly muttered, not looking at him, he had the power to dazzle her and she really didn't want to fumble her words in front of the family again.

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly and by six o'clock Molly was one of the last few remaining, she helped her Grandma, and namesake, clear up the dishes and then helped her Uncle George tidy away the tables.

"I'll be off now, Grandma, see you next week." Said Molly, walking towards the fireplace, she still hadn't got her Apparition license and after two failures she was too embarrassed to take the test again. The Floo network would have to do.

"Oh, thank you Molly dear, you're such a help." Molly nodded and picked up the Floo powder, she was just about to step into the fireplace when her Uncle George spoke.

"Booked your next test yet?" He asked, smiling.

"No, I think I'll just leave it."

"You should try again, Molly." Said her Grandfather from the table, Molly shook her head.

"There's no point, it would only give Dad something else to bother me about, see you next week." Molly dropped the powder, "Number four, Grouten Rd." Her family watched her disappear in a flash of green flames.

"Bless her." Said Molly, sitting down next to her husband.

"No confidence, not an ounce. I thought she'd get some when she left Hogwarts but…" Arthur tailed off shaking his head.

"I don't think Lucy helps, perfect in everything." Said George still looking at the fireplace where his niece had disappeared.

"Nor the papers, did you see that article on Thursday? They found her NEWT results."

"Bugger, it's not like she didn't try as well, Neville said she was always in the library." Said George thinking back to a conversation with the Head of Gryffindor a few months ago after Fred had tried to prank his sister and they had ended up duelling in the corridor.

"I wish they'd stop calling her the 'Other Weasley', it's horrible." Said Molly and her husband and son nodded.

"Well, it's bound to get worse with re-election coming up, that's probably why Perce was on at her about getting qualified."

"I know, perhaps they'll focus on Lucy."

"I don't think that would help, dear." Said Arthur.

"I'll owl Charlie, get him to talk to her, she always had a soft spot for him." Molly said, glancing over at the family clock and seeing that her Granddaughter was now 'Home'.

"Probably because he actually managed to escape!" Laughed George, Charlie was still working in Romania.

"Probably, still he's coming home in a few weeks. He could talk to Percy and Audrey as well."

"Has she spoken to Audrey since…?"

"I don't think so, I know Felix didn't mean any harm but Audrey could have defended her."

"I know, no wonder her confidence is shot, honestly saying that he would have thought she was adopted if she hadn't been a twin, what was he thinking?" Arthur said, shaking his head.

"His dementia is getting worse, I'm sure he didn't mean any harm." Said Molly, thinking back to the incident in June, "It was Audrey that made it worse, Molly probably wouldn't have been so upset if her mother hadn't said that there could have been a baby swap."

"They'll smooth things over soon, Molly dear." Said Arthur, rubbing his wife on the back.

"I hope so, oh I do worry about that one more than any of the others. Thank heavens for Ted and Victoire. They give her more confidence." George nodded at his mother's words, in spite of the three being a year apart from each other, they had always been best friends and Ted and Victoire had always defended Molly when things got too much. George had been worried when Ted and Victoire had started dated, he knew most of the family had also been concerned, but it seemed to work fine. They were the Golden trio of the next generation.

* * *

Molly pulled off her shoes and pulled on her slippers before pointing her wand at the kettle and making a cup of tea. She liked living alone, Ted and Victoire had offered her the spare bedroom in their flat but Molly didn't want to intrude, and they both worked such long hours she knew that when they were off they wanted to spend time together and Molly would only be the third wheel.

She lived in a small, one bedroom, flat in London. Her father had agreed to pay half of the rent until she qualified because her starting salary was not high. She knew how disappointed he had been when she had done so badly on her exams and she knew that he had pulled some strings to get her into the ministry.

If she was honest she hated her job, she hated working at the Ministry where she ran in to at least three family members every time she as much as went to the toilet, but it paid most of the bills and kept her parents of her back, for the most part.

Molly just didn't know what she wanted to be, she had never known. Lucy had wanted to follow in her father's footsteps since she was seven, Victoire had always wanted to be an Auror and Ted had always wanted to be a Healer. Molly never knew. She wasn't like James who changed his mind every few weeks though, Molly didn't have any idea. She knew she wasn't smart enough for most things, she got stressed easily and wasn't particularly gifted with duelling, with any magic really.

She walked over to the computer and turned it on, she was the only one in her family with a computer, her parents had bought it for her when she got the job at the MWEC, they probably felt that she needed to know more about Muggles, despite the fact that Muggle Studies was the only exam she got an O in, Care of Magical Creatures and History of Magic had both been just A's.

The computer loaded slowly and Molly picked up the Muggle magazine that she had bought earlier and flicked through it until the machine was ready. When it was she opened the word processor and started typing. Writing was the only thing Molly knew she could do, the only thing she knew she was good at. No one knew, not even Ted and Victoire, but Molly preferred it that way. It was her world, the world she created inside the computer. She had often thought about trying to get published in the Muggle world but fear of rejection had always kept her from really trying. She published short stories online and the Muggles that read them really seemed to enjoy them, seemed to appreciate her, and she craved it.

After an hour of writing Molly closed down the computer and went to put her pyjamas on, when she returned to the living room she saw an Owl perched on the window. Jemima, her Aunt Hermione's owl, Molly relieved it of the letter and gave it some owl treats. She opened the letter and smiled.

_Dear Molly,_

_Can I right to you when I'm at Hogwarts?_

_Hugo W._

Molly smiled and found some parchment to write a reply.

_Dear Hugo,_

_Of course you can __write __to me when you're at Hogwarts. I hope you have a great time and good luck with the sorting._

_Lots of love,_

_Molly W._

_Xxx_

Molly attached the letter back onto Jemima and she flew off. Molly had only added the 'W.' because Hugo had, how many Hugo's did he think Molly knew? A very large part of Molly hoped that Hugo was place in Hufflepuff, he was more like Molly than the rest of the family. She knew how much he wanted to be in Gryffindor though, like the entire rest of the family.

By ten Molly was ready for bed, she pulled her hair back into a loose plait and climbed into her double bed. When she had bought it her mother had made some comment about it being a waste of a double bed if Molly didn't get a boyfriend soon, but Molly loved the bed and she had bought it with her own savings.

Molly's relationship with her mother had always been strained. Percy, Audrey and Lucy were all smart and ambitious and Molly had never been either. Molly and her mother had had brief periods of not talking before but none as long as this time. It had been nearly two months now and neither witch had uttered a word. Molly was waiting for her mother to apologise but she suspected she never would.

Molly knew that her Grandpapa had not meant to be offensive, his dementia was getting worse now that his wife had died and he was alone, but it was her mother's comment that upset her. Did she seriously think that Molly had been swapped at birth? Of course she didn't, she was just being cutting, as always. Molly and Lucy had always been different, never identical in looks or personality. Lucy was smart without even trying, Molly was slow in spite of all the hours she worked. Lucy was beautiful, Molly was average. Lucy was charming and charismatic and popular with boys, Molly was shy, awkward and had never had a serious relationship. Lucy was a model-Weasley, Molly was not.

Molly Weasley knew the papers were right, she was the 'Other Weasley'.

* * *

Molly arrived early for work on Monday and sat at her tiny desk looking through the letters for her supervisor, Megan Parsons, so that she could prioritize them before putting them on her desk. Megan was only 22 but was fully qualified and took this to mean that she could treat Molly like her personal slave.

The head of MWEC was Stuart Banks who was a serious and rather scary middle-aged wizard who worshipped the ground that Percy Weasley walked on, Molly suspected that her father had used this reverence to get his daughter a job here.

Molly put the letters on Megan's desk and was just walking back to her own when Megan walked in, carrying her designer handbag and carrying a paper cup of coffee.

"Morning, Weasley. The letters ready?" She said, flicking her bouncy blond hair out of her eyes, Molly wondered why she didn't just tie it back.

"They're are on your desk." Molly replied, sitting back down. Megan sat down and pulled out her mirror to check her make up.

"Mr Banks in yet?" She asked.

"I don't think so."

"Right, well get him a coffee for when he arrives." Molly nodded and walked to the refreshment station down the corridor, her mother was standing there making herself a cup of tea. Molly waited behind her silently.

Her mother took a ridiculous amount of time squeezing every last drop of tea out of the bag and Molly wondered if she was perhaps trying to build up the courage to speak to her daughter. In the end she finished the drink and walked off without even addressing Molly.

Molly made the coffee and walked back into the office. Megan stood up as she arrived.

"What took you so long? He's here now! Give it to me." Megan took the coffee and knocked on Mr Bank's door before opening it. "I've made you a coffee sir." She said, stepping in and closing the door behind her.

Molly was used to Megan taking credit for anything Molly did and she suspected it was why Mr Banks had not yet offered her a promotion, that and he was probably distracted by his affair with Megan that he barely noticed Molly's presence.

Within two minutes of Megan entering the office Molly could hear the sounds of a desk being repeatedly banged against the wall, she immediately cast a silencing charm and then started working on her report.

She was writing a piece to be presented to Mr Banks who was planning to give it to the muggle ornithologists to explain the strange behaviour of owls at Christmas, wizards and witches seemed to think that Muggles had better things to do on Christmas Day than watch the owls but apparently they didn't.

Molly had come up with the idea of Christmas lights warming the trees that owls roosted in forcing them to fly during the day to find colder trees without twinkling lights. When Megan returned to the office at some point, Molly ignored her and continued to work on the report until lunch when Ted knocked on the office door.

"Free for lunch, Molls?" He asked, Molly nodded and stood up.

"Don't be late, we're presenting after lunch." Megan said, reapplying her make-up again.

Molly and Ted walked to the canteen and Ted filled her in on his morning of studying and helping to redecorate the children's ward. They sat down in the corner and Ted collected lunch for both of them.

"Thanks Ted." Molly said as he passed her a Chicken sandwich.

"You're welcome, now I need to ask you something."

"Fire away." She replied, biting into the sandwich.

"I'm going to ask Vic to marry me."

"Really? That's great! When?"

"I was thinking of your birthday."

"You want to wait till October? Why?" Molly's birthday was the third of October.

"Because all the family will be together for you…"

"For Lucy you mean."

"For you and Lucy, and it would be nice. Do you mind?"

"I don't, you might want to check with Lucy though, she likes the spotlight."

"I don't care what she thinks, I care what you think."

"Do it, Victoire will love it, have you picked the ring?"

"Yeah, it's my Moms, Uncle Harry gave it to me."

"Cool, well I'm sure she'll say yes."

"You think? She's been acting a bit weird lately."

"It's probably just stress, she's only just qualified, it probably takes some adjustment. She loves you." Victoire had just qualified as an Auror, only three weeks ago, and was now working with Uncle Ron.

The talked about the proposal for a few more minutes when a man with a camera and a notepad walked up to the table.

"Miss Weasley, please excuse me for interrupting." He said, looking like he really didn't care.

"What can I do for you?" Molly asked, putting down her sandwich and eyeing the camera with trepidation.

"I was just wondering if I could have your opinion on the announcement."

"What announcement?" Molly asked,

"Your father, running for re-election, surely you knew?" Molly was surprised by this, her father hadn't discussed it with her, she tried to arrange her face into an unsurprised expression.

"Oh, yeah of course. I'm very proud of him." She said.

"And how do you feel about your sister being his campaign manager?" Molly could not hide her shock with that one and Ted raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I'm…I'm sure she'll be great." Molly said, her voice unnaturally high.

"Are you surprised that your father didn't ask you?"

"No, Lucy will be great, I've got to get back to work, excuse me please. See you later, Ted." She left the rest of her sandwich and walked out of the canteen as quickly as she could without looking like she was running off.

She turned the corner and ran smack-bang into her Aunt Hermione, knocking both of them to the floor.

"Oh, sorry Aunt Hermione." She said, standing up quickly and pulling her Aunt to her feet.

"Don't worry about it, are you alright Molly? You look upset."

"Just had a surprise…Dad and…Lucy…"

"They told you then?"

"Nope, some journalist told me. I'm sure they were going to get around to it." Molly tried to blink back tears but her Aunt saw them.

"Come on, come to the office we'll have a cup of tea." She said, Molly was going to argue but then she realised that she could only go back to the office and she wasn't in the mood for Megan, or even worse Banks.

Hermione led her to her large office and told her secretary to hold all calls and bring a tray of tea. The old witch carried in a tea tray and then left the office and shut the door. Aunt Hermione was now Deputy Head of Magical Law Enforcement, and her office was huge and contained a large red sofa which she sat on, patting the space next to her to indicate that Molly should join her. Molly sat and wiped her tears on the back of her hand.

"This is stupid, sorry Aunt Hermione." She sniffed.

"It's not stupid, Percy should have told you."

"How long have you known?"

"I found out this morning, your Mom told me, she knew last week."

"Mom knew…I saw her this morning…" More tears fell down Molly's face but they were angry tears. Why hadn't her mother warned her? She could have said something, without even alluding to the argument they were currently having.

"I'm sorry Molly, I thought you knew."

"I'm not important enough to know these things."

"That's not true, he was probably just busy this morning."

"He must have known yesterday, that was probably why he wanted Banks to give me a promotion…doesn't want the papers to find out I'm not qualified yet."

"Molly, are you happy here? At the ministry, I mean?" Hermione asked, looking serious.

"I…I don't know…No but…"

"Molly if you're not happy, find another job. Happiness is important."

"But…I'm not like you Aunt Hermione, I'm not smart, I'm not brave, I don't know who I'm supposed to be…"

"It's not about cleverness or bravery…"

"That's easy for you to say, look Aunt Hermione, I appreciate this little pep talk but at the end of the day I know my Dad would kill me if I quit, he pulled some strings to get me the job in the first place and I don't even know where else I would work."

"Maybe you should travel, find yourself."

"Yeah, I'm sure they'd love that." Molly snorted. "Look, don't worry about me. Some people are supposed to be amazing like you and Lucy and Dad but…some people aren't and I'm one of those people. Thanks for the tea, I've got a presentation this afternoon." Molly stood up and left the office before her Aunt could call her back. She walked straight to the refreshment station and made herself a cup of tea before walking into the office.

There was a beautiful vase of flowers on her desk. She set down her tea and looked for a card, assuming they were for Megan, she found a small envelope with her name on. She opened it and pulled out the business-card sized blue parchment.

_Dear Molly,_

_The light of my darkness_

_Xxx_

Molly stared at the card for a few more seconds, mentally going through anyone she could think of that might send her flowers. Ted might but he would sign his name and she was definitely not the light in Ted's darkness, more like the dark shadow in his light. Her father had sent her flowers once when she had been ill at Hogwarts but he definitely wouldn't say that.

She looked up at the flowers, they were roses, mostly yellow but with one vivid black rose in the middle of them. Molly sat down, still holding the card and then moved the flowers to the edge of her desk.

"Nice flowers, they for me?" Asked Megan walking back into the office.

"No, me." Molly replied, looking at the card.

"You, seriously? Who from?" Megan asked in an unkind way.

"Don't know."

"Secret admirer then, you're full of surprises Weasley." Molly didn't reply and tried to put the flowers, and the mystery sender, out of her mind as she prepared for the presentation.

At two o'clock Molly and Megan walked into Bank's office and Megan sat down as Molly moved towards the presentation board. She inserted the cartridge of images into the projector and then stood by the board and looked at Banks.

"Whenever you're ready, Miss Weasley." He said.

"Right, okay, thanks…" Molly started the presentation well and the first few images showed up fine, when she pointed her wand for the third one though the projector started smoking and then promptly exploded.

"Merlin Beard, _aguamenti_!" Said Banks, standing up and firing his wand at the flaming lumps of plastic, his water overshot and landed on Molly's notes, she moved them out of the way and tried to dry them with her wand but the ink had smudged.

"You'll have to carry on without it, Weasley." Said Megan, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the smell of melting plastic.

"Right…okay…" Molly tried to carry on but her confidence was shot and half her notes were missing, after fumbling through another ten minutes Banks held up his hand.

"Alright, Miss Weasley, I've heard enough. Come and sit down, Megan go back to your desk." Megan looked disappointed but followed her boss's instructions and Molly sat down next to him.

"I'm sorry sir, I wasn't expecting…" She indicated at the now dry melted projector.

"I think this project was too big for you." Banks said, with a condescending smile.

"No, honestly sir, I'm just not good at presenting, the report is really good, I've spent months on it…"

"I think we'll move you back down to Megan's assistant…"

"No, please sir, just read the report…" Molly begged, not a demotion!

"I know what I'll find, you weren't ready for this Molly, we'll review in a few months."

"Please sir, just…"

"I'm sorry Molly, go on home now, we'll see you in the morning." Molly stood up and walked out of the office in shock, she couldn't believe this. Molly grabbed her bag and was about to leave when Megan spoke.

"Don't forget your flowers!"

"Oh, yeah." Molly picked up the flowers and card and walked out of the office, her mother was at the refreshment counter, apparently lawyers needed frequent refreshing.

"Thank for the warning, Mother." She said as she passed her, her mother didn't reply and Molly was nearly at the Atrium when she bumped into another member of her family, Uncle Harry.

"Hey Molly, you're leaving early, nice flowers, did you get that promotion then?" He asked kindly, it was a reasonable assumption to make.

"No, I got demoted."

"Really, why?"

"Fucked up my presentation, seems to be the only thing I can do right."

"What?"

"Screw things up, see you later, Uncle Harry." She walked over to the Floo and ignored her Uncle calling her back, she Flooed back to the flat and placed the flowers on the table before sitting on the sofa and bursting into hysterical sobs.

Why couldn't she do anything right? What was wrong with her? Why was everyone else so together, and sorted? Molly felt like a complete failure, again.

* * *

As Molly expected it was barely ten past five when there was a knock on the door, she shuffled over to it and opened it to reveal her two best friends. Ted was carrying a two bottles of wine and Victoire was carrying a bag of fish and chips.

"Heard you had a tough day?" Victoire asked, leaning over and hugging her cousin.

"Tough life more like. Uncle Harry told you then?" She asked, stepping aside to let them in.

"Yeah, what happened?" Victoire replied, as Ted kissed her on the cheek.

Molly explained about the projector and the complete failure of the presentation and they were both suitably annoyed for her.

"He wouldn't even read the report?" Victoire asked, reaching up into a cupboard and getting three glasses. Ted had got plates from the cupboard and Molly just sat at the table watching them.

"No."

"But you've spent like two months on that! He just demoted you, just like that?" Ted asked, Molly nodded.

"Just like that, I'm Megan's assistant again." Victoire passed her a glass of wine and she took a big gulp. An owl arrived on the window and she walked over to it to relieve the bird of its paper, she glanced at the headline and her face darkened. "Shit." She muttered before throwing the newspaper on the paper for Ted and Victoire to read.

_Weasley running for re-election, one daughter campaign manager, the other doesn't even know!_

"Looks like Dad will be here any minute now." She said putting her head on the table and just wanting to crawl into a hole and emerge after the election was over, preferably with a new identity, or a better job.

They started eating the food and then Victoire noticed the flowers.

"Who are they from? They look expensive." She said, looking over to the fireplace where Molly had put them in a vase.

"No idea, this came with them." Molly pulled out the card from her pocket and passed them over to her.

"Light of my darkness, ooh a secret admirer! Or do you know who it is?"

"No, it's probably just a joke." Molly replied, stabbing at a chip with unnecessary venom. A knock at the door sounded and Molly looked at Ted and Victoire. "If he doesn't know about the job don't mention it." She said and the both nodded.

Molly opened the door and her father was standing there holding a paper.

"Hi Dad, do you want a cup of tea?" Molly asked,

"No, I won't stop, hi Ted, Victoire."

"Hey Uncle Percy." They both replied.

"We need to talk." Her Dad said and she led him into the bedroom and closed the door.

"What? Now you want to talk. A little heads-up would have been nice, I don't like getting accosted by journalists who know more about my family than I do when I'm eating my lunch."

"It was crossed communication."

"Crossed communication Dad! You could have just popped down to see me!"

"I thought Lucy was."

"And she thought you were I get it, why didn't you check?"

"Anyway I came to talk to you. I'm going for re-election…"

"Oh, thanks Dad, I got that!" She snapped sarcastically.

"Alright, I'm sorry. Anyway you know what this means, the whole family is going to be under close scrutiny and I need you to…" Molly arched her eyebrows and her father hesitated, "…try and be the best you can be, Molly."

"Right, anything else?"

"Have you spoken to Banks?"

"Yes, we had a big meeting today."

"Excellent, so you're officially an officer? Congratulations Molly, I knew even you could manage that…No offence. You should have told me." Molly snorted. "Alright I know things have been strained because of Felix but…"

"It's not because of Grandpapa and you know it."

"Well, your mother is sorry but I think it's gone too far now."

"She's sorry, would be nice if I heard that from her."

"Molly, we need to present a solid family unit, image is everything. If I don't get this re-election then I won't be able to finish all of my projects."

"What do you need me to do? Smile and pretend that we're the perfect family?"

"We are the perfect family, we've just been through some difficult months. Everything will be fine, there's a campaign party on Friday night at the house, I need you there. Lucy will send you the details."

"Fine, anything else?"

"No."

"Fine." Molly opened the door and led her father to the door. He said farewell to Teddy and Victoire and was just about to disapparated when Molly spoke.

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"I got demoted."

"What?" He said, looking shocked.

"The meeting with Banks, I got demoted."

"Molly, what did you do?" He asked, looking exasperated.

"See you Friday, I'll try not to embarrass you." She shut the door and there was a pause, a sigh and then the sound of Disapparation.

She leaned back against the door and closed her eyes.

"Come on, Molls, drink more wine." Said Victoire and Molly walked back over to the table. The rest of the meal was subdued and Molly knew that Ted and Victoire didn't know what to say to her.

"You two better be there on Friday." Molly said, glaring at them.

"I will be. Protection detail." Said Victoire, Molly looked at Ted who shook his head.

"Sorry, late shift."

"Fuck, you'll be too busy to drink with me." She said, pointing at Victoire, "And you're not even going to be there, some best friends you are!"

"I'll make sure you don't drink too much." Said Victoire with a wry smile.

"Great, I bet Dad will have me on Pumpkin juice anyway. I even had Aunt Hermione giving me a pep talk today and now I have to play nice with Mom." Molly put her head back on the table and Victoire stroked it lightly.

"Have you spoken to her yet?"

"No, well I made a sarcastic comment after I got demoted but she didn't reply. Is it so wrong that I want an apology?"

"No, it's not but…just play nice for Friday, maybe it will help if Aunt Audrey thinks you're making an effort."

There was another knock at the door and Molly walked over to it, it was Granddad.

"Hi Molly, I heard about Banks, I'm sorry." He said after she let him into the flat.

"Did Dad tell you?"

"No, Molly did, I think Harry told her. I saw the paper as well, not a great day then. I assume that's why you two are here?" He said, turning to Ted and Victoire.

"That's right Granddad, we bring food and wine and conversation." Said Victoire,

"Mostly wine though." Ted added.

Her Granddad didn't stay long and after he left Molly felt even worse and didn't finish the rest of her food, Ted and Victoire left and Molly switched on her computer and started writing.

She was working on a Muggle murder mystery, she was only a few chapters in but in her head the story was nearly finished. Just as she was going to bed another owl came to the window. Most of her family had owled her during the evening but this owl didn't look familiar.

Molly walked over to it and detached the note, it was on thick blue parchment, like the flowers card, she turned it over and read the message.

_Sweet dreams_

_Xxx_

Molly looked at the writing for a few more minutes, just stared at it, trying to remember if she had seen in before, and then placed it by the flowers and went to bed.

Her dreams were not sweet, she woke several times and cried for a few minutes before dropping off again.

* * *

When she woke in the morning she was late, her alarm hadn't gone off, she only had fifteen minutes before she was due at her desk, knowing that a sickie wasn't an option she leapt out of bed and pulled on some clothes before brushing her teeth, plaiting her hair and running to the Floo.

She made it to the desk with thirty seconds to spare but Megan was already there.

"You're late, Weasley."

"I'm just on time." She replied.

"I say you're late, get my coffee." Megan looked at her with cold eyes and Molly walked to the empty refreshment station and made Megan a coffee and herself a tea, she hadn't had time to have one at the flat.

She returned to the office and placed the coffee down and then walked back to the desk sipping her scalding hot tea.

"I didn't say _you_ could get a drink." Megan said, smiling like a serial killer.

"Well Ministry regulations do, I'll sort the mail."

"Listen Weasley, I know you must be disappointed about the demotion but think of this as more of a learning experience, it's important to do the ground work. Just because you're Daddy is the big boss and you're Mummy is a big wig down the hall, doesn't mean you're important in here, got it?"

"Yep." Molly replied, too tired to argue with her.

Banks walked in and Molly went to get him a coffee, Megan gave it to him and they had there morning 'meeting' while Molly sorted the post.

The rest of the morning was spent reading through Megan's reports to check facts and spelling. At lunchtime Lucy come to the door.

"Hey Molly, you free for lunch?" She asked, Molly was planning on eating at her desk but Megan had just started a meeting with Banks so Molly decided to see what lunch with Lucy would bring.

"Sure." She grabbed her bag and they left, Molly realised that they were not heading to the staff canteen but were in fact going to her father's office.

"Heard about yesterday." Lucy said as they entered the lift.

"Did you?"

"Yeah, tough break."

"Yeah, it was." The lift started moving and the twins were silent until they reached the Minister's office.

"Hello, Miss Weasley, it's nice to see you up here." Said Gwen, her father's secretary who had always had a soft spot for Molly.

"Hi Gwen, how are you?"

"Very excited about the re-election, you must be too?"

"Ecstatic." Molly replied with the brightest smile she could muster. They made small talk for a few minutes and then the twins walked into their father's office.

Percy Weasley was sat on a large black sofa next to his wife, there was a large selection of sandwiches in front of them.

"Ahh Molly, glad you could make it." Said her father standing up and moving over to her, she allowed him to kiss her on the cheek and then sat down in one of the armchairs, opposite her mother.

"I'm sorry, Molly." Her mother said, quietly.

"Really? Are you really sorry or are you just trying to make peace before Friday?"

"Don't make this harder, Molly. I'm sorry I upset you, I didn't realise how much it would hurt you." Her mother looked at her and Molly was surprised to see that her mother actually did look genuine. Then again, she was a lawyer.

Molly nodded but didn't reply, Lucy clapped her hands and Molly turned to her.

"Right, now we need to talk about strategy. Obviously image is everything in politics so Molly I'm taking you shopping on Thursday night, and then we're going to the salon on Friday before the party to sort out your hair." Lucy looked excited.

"I can shop for myself thanks."

"No, we need to focus on colours, Dad wants to use black for the campaign colour but I think blue would be better, a pale blue to match our eyes."

"My eyes are brown." Molly replied,

"Yeah, but you don't have the Weasley hair so we can put you in anything and you won't clash." Molly bit back a retort with great difficulty.

"I'm also going to talk to Banks this afternoon, I'm sure we can sort this thing out." Said her father but Molly shook her head.

"When I thought you were asking me to lunch, I didn't mind, but if you're just here to point out my many flaws and failings then I think I'll…"

"Molly's right, let's just have a family meal together." Said her mother firmly, Molly looked at her in surprise and her mother gave her a weak smile.

"Fine, but I'm coming round tonight." Lucy said.

"I'm busy." Molly replied, she was, she needed to write.

"Tomorrow then?"

"Fine."

The rest of the meal was actually quite pleasant, her mother told them all about her current cases and then Lucy talked about her work and Brian, and then her father filled them in about the projects he was hoping to finish. Apparently a normal family meal still involved talking about work, Molly stayed quiet.

When she returned to the desk there was another bouquet of flowers on her desk, they looked almost identical to the previous day's bunch, Molly pulled out the blue card and read it.

_Dear Molly,_

_Hope the afternoon is better than this morning._

_Xxx_

Molly was still staring at the card when Megan and Banks walked out of the office.

"Nice flowers, Molly, new boyfriend?" Banks asked, moving over to the bookcase and searching for a title.

"No, she's got a secret admirer, sir." Said Megan, laughing slightly.

"Really? How lovely, and my wife says 'Romance is dead'." Molly didn't trust herself to look at Banks, his wife was one of the sweetest witches Molly had ever met. She always bought him lunch if he'd forgotten it and she made baskets of muffins for the MWEC office on a monthly basis.

When she returned to the flat that evening she put the two vases of flowers next to each other, at first glance they were identical but if you looked closely you could see that on the second bunch the yellow roses surrounding the central black rose had the slightest hint of black on the petals closest to the black one, as if the black was leaking out slowly.

Molly was slightly freaked out now, three anonymous notes in two days and two bunches of flowers. Even if she was dating the sender this would be over-kill. She genuinely had no idea who they were from.

* * *

By Thursday evening when Lucy came round, she had cancelled the previous night because Brian had bought her tickets to the opera, Molly had four bouquets lined up on the window and had received seven more notes, each was signed with 'Xxx'. Molly opened the door and Lucy walked in wearing a smart dress suit and carrying a large file with Molly's name on it.

"Ooh nice flowers, who are they from?" She asked, giving her sister a polite kiss on the cheek.

"Secret admirer." Molly replied, closing the door behind her sister and locking it.

"Seriously, that's great can I use it in the campaign?"

"No, you must definitely cannot. Where are we shopping then?"

"Muggle London, I'll side-long you, you really need to take the test again." Lucy put the file down on the table and Molly gripped her sister's arm. They arrived in an alleyway off Oxford Street.

"Did you decide on a colour scheme?"

"Yeah, we're going with Blue but Dad said you can pick another colour if you want, he doesn't like us dressing the same anymore."

"Okay, how was the opera?"

"Great, Brian was so sweet, he cried when the woman died. Then we went to an amazing restaurant where you can pick your own lobster to eat."

"That's disgusting." Molly said, pulling a face.

"No my dear sister, _that_ is fine dining." Molly snorted but didn't comment further.

By the time they returned to the flat, at nine, Molly was absolutely exhausted. They must have been to every muggle clothes shop in London and Molly finally found a dress that she liked and Lucy didn't hate.

"I just don't get why you wear red so much." Lucy said, sitting down at the table and pulling the file towards her.

"I'm the only one in the family who can wear it and not look stupid, that's enough." Molly replied before passing a cup of tea to her sister. "What's in the file?" She asked.

"Just some of the old prophet stories about you, I need to present you in the most positive light, that bloody NEWT story last week did damage." Lucy looked annoyed and opened the file. "Right Molly, you need to be straight with me."

"About what?"

"Everything. If Dad's going to win this then we can't have any boggarts in the wardrobe."

"Why do you assume I have…?"

"Because you're a closed book, Molls. The public don't know you so they're more likely to read false stories about you and believe them. Answer these questions honestly. Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No."

"Do you know who your secret admirer is?"

"No, I'm sure it's just a joke."

"Fine, who is your best friend?"

"Ted or Victoire."

"Not me?" Molly snorted.

"Come on Luce, you told me to be honest, am I your best friend?"

"Good point, okay, are you alright with Mom now?"

"I'm not un-right with her, she said hello this morning at the refreshment counter."

"Can't you just let it go now?"

"I'm trying but, she needs to put more effort in. Do you have any idea what it feels like to be on the outside of your own bloody family, and I'm not just talking about the four of us, I'm talking about the whole family, I feel like I'm watching the rest of you do amazing and I'm just…watching."

"Molly, not everyone can be amazing."

"Jee, thanks. I know that, I've had the pep talks, what else do you want to know?"

"Okay, do you support Dad in this re-election?"

"Of course I do. I love Dad and he's a great Minister."

"Do you support me as campaign manager?" Molly hesitated.

"If I'm telling the truth it did hurt. And I'm not saying that I would have been a better campaign manager because that's bullshit but…you could have talked to me about it." Lucy nodded.

"I'm sorry. There's no excuse."

"No, there isn't."

"But we need to move forwards, we've got five months before elections and I will make sure Dad wins."

"I know you will."

"Really?"

"Yeah Lucy, you don't know how to fail." Lucy looked quite touched and Molly gave her a shaky smile.

The next five months were going to be utter hell.

* * *

On Friday evening Molly arrived at her parents' house early but it was already heaving. The red floor-length fitted dress looked good on her and that helped her confidence. Molly knew she wasn't unattractive. She had a good figure but she wasn't as toned as Lucy was. Lucy was a gym addict and Molly had no desire to set foot in one, ever.

"Hey Molls, you look lovely." Said Uncle Harry walking over to her, he was wearing black dress robes with a blue campaign pin and he kissed her on the cheek.

"Hi Uncle Harry, off-duty then?"

"Well, I'm not on-duty but…" He tailed off and Molly laughed. They moved into the large dining room and Molly went to greet Victoire who looked very grown up in her Auror robes, they didn't talk long because Molly didn't want Victoire to get into trouble.

Molly found a seat in the living room and looked around at all the guests, many had yet to arrive but Kingsley Shacklebolt was already there, in serious discussions with Percy and Audrey, and Lucy and Brian were laughing with Brian's father, a high-level Unspeakable.

"There's my favourite niece." Came a familiar voice from behind Molly, she turned and her face broke into a wide grin.

"Uncle Charlie!" She said, jumping up and running around to hug him, "I didn't know you were coming!"

"And miss my little brother's re-election campaign, not a chance." Molly quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Well, Mom wanted me home for a few days and I was running out of food so…" Molly laughed and hugged him again. Uncle Charlie was by far her favourite Uncle, he just seemed to understand her.

"Heard you had a rough week?" He said as they sat down on the sofa.

"Yeah, anyway how are you?" She asked, trying not to dwell on the disaster that was her life.

"Good, yeah should be moving back here by Christmas."

"Really? You're leaving Romania? That's amazing! Why?"

"Post opened in the Welsh reserve and I'm getting a bit too old for the fiercer dragons, it's a young man's game."

"Where are you going to live?"

"The Burrow till I find my own place, how's your flat?"

"Great, I love having my own space." They talked for a few more minutes than the younger cousins came round all wanting to hear stories. Molly stood up and moved away. Only Molly, Lucy, Ted, Victoire and Dominique had graduated Hogwarts, the rest were still there or about the start (in Hugo and Lily's case).

Molly walked over to the bar and grabbed a glass of pumpkin juice from the waiter.

"Hey Molly, you look great!" Said Brian, calling her over, she smiled and walked over to him.

"Thanks Brian, how are you?"

"Good thanks, Lucy's in her element."

"She's always in her element at stuff like this."

"Yeah, true." He laughed. Molly looked around to see if her grandparents had arrived and then turned back to Brian.

"So, how's work?" She asked, Brian worked for the Daily Prophet.

"Good thanks, going to be quite election-related now but I'll try and warn you if there are any stories about you."

"Thanks, I'd appreciate that, I'll see you later." Molly noticed her grandparents and walked over to meet them.

"Hello Molly dear, how are you?" Her Grandma asked, pulling her into a hug, her Grandfather held her glass so she didn't spill any.

"I'm fine thanks, how are you?" She asked when she had pulled away and hugged her Grandfather.

"Marvellous, so proud of Percy for running again."

"I know, it's great." Replied Molly with a slightly strained smile, she took a large swig of Pumpkin juice wishing it was Firewhisky and then moved away to let her Grandparents mingle.

At seven o'clock precisely Lucy gathered everyone in the dining room where a small stage had been set up and made Molly stand next to her mother and smile in pride as her father made his speech.

Molly listened carefully whilst feeling quite light-headed, she probably should have eaten before she came, knowing how long her father's speeches could go on for, she had already spotted her Uncle Ron yawning in the crowd.

She tried to follow her father's words but they all seemed to merge together and the room seemed to spin slightly.

"Mom, I don't feel well." She whispered to her mother.

"Just listen to the speech Molly, then you can go home if you want." Her mother whispered back before looking at her daughters face causing her smile to falter. "For Merlin's sake Molly, don't you dare faint."

Molly managed to listen for a few more minutes but her face must have been sickly because people in the crowd started to point and whisper and eventually her father turned around to her.

"Oh, Molly, do you need to lie down?" He asked, looking surprised by her pallor.

"Yeah, I'm not feeling very well, sorry." Her sister tutted loudly and moved to help her Molly off the stage, they had walked a few steps when Molly's heel (which Lucy insisted she wore) snapped and she fell side-ways off the stage, straight into Kingsley Shacklebolt's lap.

Molly heard the crowd gasp and someone call her name and then everything went dark.

When Molly woke up she was in her childhood bedroom and it was dark outside, she looked at the clock and saw that it was half-ten. She still felt ill, hung-over almost, but she climbed out of the bed and opened the bedroom door.

She could hear gentle voices downstairs and she guessed that they were her family and that the party was over, she walked to the balcony and was relieved to see that only her parents, sister, grandparents and Uncle Charlie were remaining.

Molly walked down the stairs and her sister turned to her, looking furious.

"So, she's awake! Cheers for that Molly- now the only thing people will remember is that you got drunk!" She yelled, standing up and moving over to Molly.

"I wasn't drunk!" Molly replied,

"Molly you fell off the stage…" Her father began in a strained voice,

"Yeah and my ankle _bloody_ hurts, thanks for asking. I wasn't drunk."

"Are you feeling alright now, dear?" Her grandmother asked, standing up and summoning her coat from the hat-stand.

"Better, my head feels a bit fuzzy."

"Sounds like a hang-over to me, Molly." Her mother said, sipping on a glass of wine.

"I wasn't drunk, I only had pumpkin juice!"

"To be fair Perce, I only saw her with juice, and she wasn't acting drunk." Uncle Charlie said and Molly felt relieved that he was there.

"She could have put whisky it in, Uncle Charlie. Do you have any idea the damage you've done to the campaign? The papers are going to have a bloody field-day!" Lucy yelled.

"I wasn't drunk, I'm going home. Have fun playing happy-fucking-families, I'll just return to my pathetic life and you can all pretend I don't exist." Molly walked over to the fireplace and Floo-ed home before anyone could stop her.

When she arrived her ankle was throbbing and she still felt sick, she walked over to a bedroom but the squawk of an owl stopped her and she walked to the window. The parchment was blue, she detached it and read.

_You still look beautiful, even falling off a stage_

_Xxx _

So whoever it was that was writing the notes had been at the party. Molly put the note with the others in a shoebox by the flowers and looked at the five bouquets, the black had spread slightly but not enough to make the yellow roses look black, just enough to be noticeable as there for a purpose.

* * *

On Saturday morning she woke up with what did feel like a hang-over, perhaps she was coming down with something? Her ankle was throbbing and bruised so she decided to owl Ted to see if he could come and fix it.

She spent the morning writing and managed to make some decent headway with one of the characters, a knock on the door disturbed her creative flow and she stood up to open it.

There was a young man carrying a bouquet of flowers.

"Molly Weasley?" He asked,

"Yes."

"Please sign here." He thrust a clipboard at her and she signed her name.

"Who are they from?" She asked as he passed her the flowers.

"Don't know Mam, I just deliver, have a nice day." He walked away and Molly looked at the flowers, the yellow roses nearest the black one now had one completely black petal.

"Hey!" Came a loud male voice, Molly jumped but then saw it was Ted.

"Merlin Ted, you scared the bloody life out of me!"

"Oh, sorry, I walked from the hospital, I'm on lunch break. More flowers?" Molly nodded and he walked into the flat and looked at the flowers already on the mantelpiece.

"Thanks for coming, Ted." She said, putting the new flowers with the old one.

"You don't know who they're from?"

"No and it's starting to freak me out." She replied, looking at the box containing the notes, she wouldn't mention that.

"Oh well, I'm sure it will all become clear. Anyway let's look at this ankle, Victoire told me what happened."

"I don't understand it Ted. I feel hung-over but I only drank Pumpkin juice!" She said, sitting on the sofa and pulling off her slipper and sock to show Ted the swollen and bruised left ankle.

"You might be coming down with something."

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Molly sighed.

"Anyway, it's just sprained, taken these potions and keep it wrapped up in this bandage till tomorrow." He conjured a blue bandage and passed Molly the potions.

"Thanks Ted, you and Victoire doing anything tonight? We could see a movie?"

"Sorry, Victoire's working and I'm going to Uncle Harry's, Lily's last night and all."

"Oh, of course, wish her luck from me. She worried?"

"Lily? Nah, course not. Hugo is though."

"I know, he wants to write to me."

"He's like you, you know? More than the rest of the family."

"Yeah I know, I'm hoping he's a Hufflepuff." Ted smiled and then hugged his best friend.

"You'll be fine, Molly. Everyone loves you, you just need to…find yourself."

"No Ted, I need to find someone else, I don't fit in and you know it. I thought Lucy was going to kill me last night, they all thought I was drunk, except Uncle Charlie."

"Heard he's moving back."

"Yep, can't bloody wait."

"Well, I've got to get back to work, see you tomorrow at the Burrow?"

"I think I'll give it a miss, can't handle the agro, I haven't even opened the paper yet."

"I have, the got a good shot of your head in Shacklebolt's lap."

"Fuck, in that case I'm definitely not going, can you tell them I've got a bug?"

"Course, rest that ankle and I'll see you in the week."

Ted left and Molly looked back at the flowers. Did she really have a secret admirer or was it just some sick joke?

* * *

A/N Welcome to my new story (well one of them anyway), if any of you are confused this does NOT take place in the 'Words' Universe so Eliza has never existed and everyone who was supposed to die in the books did. It was ridiculously hard to write without Eliza but thankfully I've got another Words story coming out soon.

So let me know what you think of this story. Do you like Molly? Who do you think the flowers and notes are from? What do you think of Percy and Audrey?

This story will be updated monthly (hence why this chapter is called 'August' and it's August! See what I did there?), so the next one should be up in the middle of September.


	2. September

SEPTEMBER

The flowers kept coming, and the notes too. Hugo and Lily were both sorted into Gryffindor, leaving Molly feeling more isolated than ever. The first week after the campaign party was horrible; Molly ate in her office and barely even saw Ted and Victoire let alone anyone else in the family.

On the Friday night she brought the new bouquet of flowers home and put them next to the others debating what to do with them. She made pasta for dinner and ate it at the table, still looking at the flowers. When she had finished eating she washed up the plate and walked over to the fireplace and picked up the first bouquet; they were still perfect and had not faded at all.

Molly grabbed a black bin bag from the cupboard under the sink and put all the bouquets in it, even the latest one. She then walked out into the corridor of her flat and put the bin bag down the rubbish shoot; it didn't feel right having them in her flat when she didn't know who they were from.

She walked back into the flat and could still smell the roses so she lit a few of the incense candles that someone had bought her for Christmas and then sat at the computer to write. The words weren't coming and they hadn't been all week. Her latest chapter was only half-written and she wasn't even happy with it.

She sat at the computer for half an hour and only wrote two words, and then deleted six. An owl disturbed her and she walked over to the unfamiliar bird and removed the letter, it was blue parchment again.

_You can throw out the flowers, but you can't throw out my love._

_Xxx_

Molly gasped, how had the person known she threw away the flowers? She put the note in the box and walked to the fireplace and picked up some Floo powder.

"The Burrow!"

When she tumbled out of the Burrow's fireplace her grandparents appeared to be just finishing their evening meal.

"Molly! How lovely to see you, have you eaten?" Her Grandma asked, putting down her spoon of stew and coming over to her Granddaughter.

"Hi, sorry I just wanted to see you. I've already had dinner."

"Well, come and sit with us anyway. How was your week?" Her Grandfather asked, pulling out the seat next to him. Molly sat down and her Grandma returned to her stew.

"It was alright, just work."

"Have you spoken to your sister at all?"

"No, she hasn't been to see me, I wasn't drunk Grandma, I promise I just had pumpkin juice."

"It's alright now dear, how's your ankle?"

"Oh, fine, Ted fixed it up for me. I'm so embarrassed, I haven't been to the canteen all week, just eaten at my desk."

"Molly you can't hide away for ever." Her Grandfather said, smiling slightly.

"Not forever, just until someone else in the family does something embarrassing, then I'll come out of hiding. How was your week?"

Her Grandparents filled her in on their week and Molly listened intently, trying not to think about the flowers or the note, trying to keep her mind at the Burrow and not at her flat.

"Are you alright dear? You seem a bit distracted?"

"Just got a lot on my mind, can I stay here tonight?" She asked, not even caring that she hadn't bought anything with her.

"Of course you can, we can do something nice tomorrow, go into Hogsmeade and do some shopping." Her Grandma said kindly.

"Thanks Grandma, I'd like that."

After dinner the three Weasley's moved into the sitting room and Molly played, and lost, a game of wizard's chess with her Grandfather before deciding to get an early night. She walked into her father's old room and pulled on a pair of old pyjamas that she always kept here.

She slept much better at the Burrow than she had done all week. She woke at nine and showered and changed into old clothes of Lucy's before walking down into the kitchen. Her Aunt Ginny was there, talking with her mother and she smiled at Molly as she walked in.

"Hi, Molly. I didn't know you were here."

"Just stayed for the night, how are you Aunt Ginny?" She asked, sitting down at the table and accepting the cup of tea from her Grandma.

"Bit bored to be honest, feels weird without Lily around."

"I can imagine, you must be proud of her making Gryffindor."

"I'd be proud whatever house she was in Molly." Her Aunt Ginny said, giving Molly a significant look.

Just then her Grandfather walked in from the garden carrying a bouquet of flowers.

"Flowers for you, Molly." He said, grinning.

The colour must have drained from Molly's face because her Aunt reached out and touched her hand.

"Are you alright, Molly? You've gone very pale."

"Yeah… who delivered them?" She asked her Grandfather as he placed them on the table.

"Just a delivery boy, they're beautiful, who are they from?"

Molly picked out the blue card, noticing as she did that two of the petals on each of the nearest roses to the black one were now also black. She glanced down at the card and felt her blood run cold.

_I hope you slept better._

_Xxx_

"Molly? Who are they from?"

"What? Umm… you can keep them Grandma." She said, pushing the vase towards her Grandmother and slipping the card in her pocket.

"Who are they from, Molly? Have you got a boyfriend?" Aunt Ginny asked.

"No… I'm going to the toilet." Molly stood up and walked out of the room.

Ginny's eyes followed her out of the room and then she looked back at the flowers and then up at her mother.

"That was weird."

"I wonder who they're from, they look expensive." Her mother said, moving the vase to the window sill.

"She didn't look happy, she looked better this morning though, I was worried about her last night." Arthur said.

"Why?" Ginny asked.

"She looked exhausted and she was very quiet, even for Molly."

"She didn't even tell us she was coming, just turned up."

"She must still be thinking about last week, she must have been mortified." Ginny said.

"She swears she wasn't drunk, and Charlie was sure she only had pumpkin juice." Arthur said, looking back at the flowers.

"Percy reckons she was, poor girl she can't seem to do anything right lately. She told Harry the only thing she was good at was screwing things up." Ginny said, biting her lip.

"Really, when?"

"The day she got demoted, Harry said she was carrying flowers then, he thought she'd been promoted."

"She must have a boyfriend. She probably doesn't want the pressure of the family knowing." Molly said and her husband and daughter nodded.

In the bathroom Molly was sat on the bath, trying to calm herself down while she wiped away her tears. How did this person know she had moved to the Burrow? How did they know she had had trouble sleeping?

When she was convinced that she wouldn't throw up, Molly returned to the kitchen and her Grandma passed her a plate of breakfast.

"Thanks, Grandma." She muttered, sitting next to her Aunt.

"You're welcome dear, Ginny's going to come with us to Hogsmeade, we'll make a day of it and have lunch somewhere."

"Great." Molly said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

"We'll have a proper girly day, Molly, girl talk and shopping!" Aunt Ginny said excitedly.

* * *

When Molly returned to her flat that evening she was exhausted. Her Aunt could shop for England, and her Grandma had spent the entire day trying to find out if Molly had a boyfriend.

Molly put the blue card with the others and turned her computer on. She made a cup of tea while it was loading but when she sat down her mind was still with the blue card.

Who was doing this to her? Were they watching her? Did they know her?

She managed to write for two hours and she was actually pleased by the chapter. She saved it and turned the computer off, planning to proof-read it tomorrow before uploading it.

Molly slept badly again and when she woke up in the morning she had a horrible migraine. She didn't often get migraines anymore, not since she was little, but when they struck they had the capacity to affect her for days. She walked into the bathroom and grabbed a potion, it helped with the sickness but not the throbbing sensation and aversion to light.

She decided to proof-read the chapter quickly to get it out of the way but when she turned the computer on she couldn't find the file. She had definitely saved it, she remembered saving it.

"Fuck." She muttered, closing down the machine and deciding to search for it when she felt better.

She grabbed some parchment and wrote a note to her Grandma.

_Dear Grandma,_

_Thanks for yesterday, I had a lovely day. I won't be coming for lunch today because I've got a migraine, sorry. Tell everyone I say hello._

_Lots of love,_

_Molly_

_Xxxx _

Molly sent the note in the Floo and was about to lie down on the sofa when there was a knock at the door. Muttering profanities she walked over and opened it, feeling too queasy to even care that she was still in her pyjamas.

There was the delivery boy, with another bunch of flowers.

"Sign here, please."

"Look, is there any way I can stop these, I don't know who they're from and I don't want them."

"Not my problem, Mam, I just deliver. Have a nice day." He passed the flowers to Molly and she took the card out and then waited until the man had gone down the stairs before pushing them down the rubbish shoot.

She walked back into her flat and read the card.

_You looked beautiful in the pink dress, yesterday, it's my favourite colour on you._

_Xxx_

Molly had tried a pink dress on yesterday, in Hogsmeade, but she hadn't bought it. She hadn't even shown her Grandma and Aunt Ginny. How they hell had this person, and Molly suspected it was a he, known? She put the note with the others and sat on the sofa.

She vowed never to wear pink again and to speak to Victoire about the flowers and notes at work tomorrow. She had even put an extra 'x' on her Grandma's letter just so she didn't sign it the same way he did.

Molly summoned a cold flannel from the bathroom and put it on her head and then lay back on the sofa and closed her eyes.

After fifteen minutes she heard the Floo alarm and then her Aunt Hermione's voice.

"Molly? Oh, there you are." Molly lifted up the, now warm, flannel and look at her Aunt's head in the fireplace.

"Hi, Aunt Hermione."

"Bad one then? Anything I can do?"

"Yeah, no just need quiet and dark, thanks though."

"Okay, just wanted to check on you, Molly's going to Floo you some soup."

"Thanks."

"You look terrible, if I was you I'd call in sick tomorrow."

"Yeah I might, thanks for checking on me."

"See you soon." Her Aunt's head disappeared and Molly summoned another flannel; she had lined them all up in the sink.

* * *

It was late afternoon when the soup finally arrived and Molly was so hungry that she ate the whole portion in five minutes, and then felt very sick. She staggered into her bedroom and conjured a bucket in case she threw up, and the lay on the bed and fell straight to sleep.

When she next woke it was light, too light, she checked her watch and realised that it was ten o'clock in the morning; she must have slept for eighteen hours, and she hadn't called in sick.

She sat up, feeling groggy and still with a mild migraine, and walked into the front room to write a note for work.

_Dear Mr Banks, _

_I'm very sorry for not letting you know that I couldn't make it in this morning. I've had a really horrible migraine and I slept straight through my alarm charm. I hope to be feeling better in the morning._

_Best wishes and apologies again,_

_Molly Weasley_

She sent the note through the Floo and then went and had a shower. When she returned to the living room there was an owl on the windowsill, she assumed it was from Banks so she made a cup of tea before she went over to it.

When she reached the owl she noticed that the parchment was blue; it wasn't from Banks. She detached the letter and the owl flew off immediately.

_It was great seeing you last night, I hope to be with you again soon._

_Xxx_

Molly couldn't understand what the note meant, she hadn't been with anyone last night; she had been unconscious. Molly placed the note with the others and started to make herself an omelette.

Flowers arrived at lunchtime and Molly was concerned that the man knew she hadn't gone in to work, was he watching her all the time? It was impossible, the flat was warded; Uncle Bill did all the families wards and he was one of the best in the business.

Molly spent the afternoon trying to find the lost chapter on the computer, she used all her computing knowledge to try and find it, even Googling and watching video clips but to no avail. How had an entire fifty-page document disappeared?

A knock at the door disturbed her but she hesitated before she answered it; she needed to get a peephole.

"Molly! It's Victoire and Ted, we bring potions and food." Molly smiled and opened the door.

"Hey, thanks for coming." She said as they both stepped into the flat.

"Grandma said you had a migraine and then Aunt Audrey said you didn't go into work, she said to say hello." Victoire said, walking over to the sofa and rifling through her bag. "You still look like crap, Ted give her some potions."

"Right well, are you still nauseous?"

"It's not that bad, it was after Grandma's soup yesterday but I managed an omelette this morning."

"Kay, you don't need this one then. I'm assuming that as its dark in here the light is not your friend?"

"No."

"Take this one. How's the pain?"

"Thanks, better, just a throbbing."

"Cool, take this one. I'm cooking, I bought pizza, go and relax with Victoire."

"Thanks Ted, what would I do without you?"

"Be hungry and feel crap."

Molly went to sit next to Victoire who was busy looking at her phone; she was one of the only ones in the family that had one and Molly wasn't sure why.

"Can I have your Wi-Fi password?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's by the computer." Victoire disappeared for a moment and Molly closed her eyes.

"So, have the flowers stopped then?" Victoire asked when she sat back down.

"No, I've started throwing them out though."

"Really? But they're gorgeous."

"It's creepy, I keep getting notes too and I'm starting to get freaked out."

"And you really have no idea who…"

"No, I told you."

"Alright, don't snap at me." Molly didn't reply and they didn't speak for several minutes. Victoire was busy with her phone and seemed genuinely distracted.

The door knocked again and Molly let Ted answer it.

"Hey Uncle Percy." Molly turned around.

"Hi, Dad." She said, opening one eye.

"Hi Molly, Ted, Victoire. How are you feeling, Molly?"

"Bit better, Ted bought some potions."

"Good, do you think you'll be at work tomorrow?"

"Probably, why?"

"I've spoken to Banks, he was a bit annoyed that you didn't owl him sooner…"

"I slept straight through from four in the afternoon to ten in the morning Dad."

"Merlin Molls, that's bad! Even for a migraine." Ted said from the kitchen.

"Don't worry I straightened it out with him, explained what you're like when you get them. Anyway I've convinced him to give you another project."

"Really?" She asked, half-pleased, half-annoyed.

"Yes, it's smaller than the last project but if you do well he'll being your review forward."

"Okay, thanks Dad. How's the campaign? Recovered it?"

"I think we'll get over it, the prophet got a nice shot of you shopping with Mom and Gin so that helped."

"Good. Lucy forgiven me yet?"

"I'm not sure."

"She still thinks I was dr…?" Molly stopped as her head gave a particularly painful throb.

"Take it easy, Molly, I'll see you soon." Her father left and Molly had a small nap before dinner.

"Molly, dinner's ready." Victoire shook her awake lightly and Molly walked over to the table, feeling much better after the potions had chance to work.

"Thanks for this, Ted."

"You're welcome. Victoire can you put that bloody phone away for two seconds!"

"Merlin, Ted, take it easy, it's away!" Victoire huffed, putting the phone in her pocket.

"Who are you texting anyway? You can't know many people with phones?" Molly asked.

"Well, James and Roxy have one but they don't work at Hogwarts. Dom's got one but it's an old one so it can't go on the internet…"

"So who are you texting?" Ted asked, biting into a pizza and looking annoyed.

"Just people from work, friends from Quidditch, just people!" Victoire played Quidditch for a semi-professional team whilst her younger sister Dom was a Chaser for the Tornado's.

"How's Dom?" Molly asked.

"Good, the season starts this week. I'll see if I can get you a ticket."

"Cool, who are they playing first?"

"Puddlemore or Harpies, I can't remember, it's on Saturday though."

They had an enjoyable dinner and by the time Ted and Victoire left Molly was feeling much better and diligently set her alarm charm for the morning.

* * *

She woke before the alarm, at ten to seven, and waited for the alarm to sound. At seven o'clock it didn't sound and Molly was concerned. She never had problems with alarm-charms before, in fact it was one of the charms she was best at.

Shrugging and thinking it was the lingering effects of her migraine, Molly showered and had a longer than normal breakfast before Floo-ing to the ministry.

She arrived at the office first and arranged the mail before Megan got in. Banks arrived first and he looked surprised to see Molly there.

"Good morning, sir. I'm really sorry about yesterday…"

"Don't mention it Weasley, your father explained about your migraines. My brother used to get them and they really knocked him for six. Now I've booked you in for three to talk about this new project."

"Thank you sir, I really appreciate it. Can I get you a coffee?"

"Yes, Megan usually gets it but… black, two sugars." Molly nodded and walked to the refreshment station. Her mother was there talking to her colleague but she stopped when she saw Molly and waved the colleague off.

"Hi Molly, you feeling better?"

"Yes, thanks Mom. How are you?" Molly asked politely; she really was trying to make an effort.

"Fine, Molly showed us the flowers yesterday, who are they from?"

"A secret admirer." Molly said, making the coffee.

"That's what Lucy said, come on Molly who are they really from?"

"I don't know but it's really starting to freak me out so can we not talk about it."

"Honestly Molly, you do make a drama out of everything! Good luck with Banks." Her mother walked off and Molly returned to the office, feeling annoyed. She didn't make a drama out of everything, she liked her life as drama-free as possible!

"Morning Weasley, nice of you to show up today. Give me that coffee." Megan snatched the coffee out of Molly's hand and then disappeared to have her morning meeting with Banks.

Molly performed a silencing charm and then started on some paperwork. She then heard a knock on the outer door and Mrs Banks walked in carrying a basket of muffins.

"Good morning, Mrs Banks. How lovely to see you." Molly said, in as bright a voice as she could manage, knowing that Banks and Megan were currently committing adultery through a, thankfully charmed, wall.

"Hello Molly, is he in?"

"Yes but he's having a private meeting with Megan, he should be out in a moment, please sit down." Molly conjured a chair and Mrs Banks sat down, her eyes darting between the door to her husband's office and Molly.

"Stuart told me you had a migraine yesterday, I hope you're feeling better."

"Much better thanks, how are you?"

"Excellent, busy with the children of course."

"Of course, how old are they now?" Molly asked, feeling even more uncomfortable.

"When Ben has just started at Hogwarts, he's in Ravenclaw, Fiona is nine, and the twins Percy and Max, are six. You're a twin aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Identical?"

"No, not in looks or personality. Chalk and cheese are more similar than me and Lucy, that's what my mother says." Molly said, hoping that Banks and Megan would finish quickly. Banks named one of his kids after Molly's Dad for Merlin's sake!

"Percy and Max finish each other's sentences and everything, do you do that?"

"No, never. Are they identical?"

"To the last freckle, I have to colour code their clothes to tell them apart. Do you ever wear matching outfits?"

"Not since we were kids, before Hogwarts. We like different things, Lucy's more girly and…" The door to Banks' office opened and Megan walked out, fixing her hair.

"Oh, Mrs Banks, how lovely to see you!" Megan said, in an unnaturally high voice.

"Would you like a cup of tea, Mrs Banks?" Molly asked, wanting to get out of the office.

"Yes please dear, white, no sugar."

"Of course, run along Weasley." Megan said as if the offer had come from her. Molly walked to the station and by the time she returned to the office Mr Banks had taken his wife into the office and Megan took the tea in.

"Why didn't you tell us she was here?" Megan snapped as she sat back down at her desk.

"You sounded busy." Molly replied, not trusting herself to look up. "Silencing charms are useful." Megan didn't reply and Molly felt a small victory for it.

She had her meeting with Banks and he gave her an assignment. She was to think of an excuse for loss of sheep around the dragon reserve in Wales. Molly was excited about the project, she would be able to liaise with Uncle Charlie.

When she returned to her desk the flowers were waiting for her, Megan made a comment but Molly didn't hear it, she picked out the blue parchment.

_Glad you're feeling better, I wish I could take away all your pain_

_Xxx_

The parchment felt thicker than usual and Molly realised it was an envelope, she walked to the toilet and opened it in the cubicle.

It was a photograph. A muggle photograph of Molly asleep, it looked to have been taken on Sunday night and Molly was lying under the duvet with one leg sticking out and a pained expression on her face.

Molly felt sick and almost turned around in case she threw up. Xxx had been in her flat, while she was sleeping! Knowing that this was now beyond regular secret admirer and into stalker territory Molly didn't return to her desk but instead went straight up to the Auror department, hoping to speak to a member of her family.

The office was fairly quiet but Molly heard her Uncle Ron talking to someone so she made her way over to his desk. She waited while he finished talking to the blonde witch, holding the photo in a shaking hand.

"….more funding so we could increase the raids but we won't know until the re-election. Any chance you could have a word with your brother?"

"I can mention it but he doesn't tend to listen to me, try asking Audrey."

"Will do, cheers Ron." The blond witch left and Ron turned back to his desk, apparently not noticing his niece.

Molly walked forward and cleared her throat.

"Uncle Ron?"

"Oh, hi Molly, what are you doing up here?" He asked, smiling and putting down his quill.

"Have you got a minute?" She asked.

"Course, what can I do for you?"

"I… I think…"

"WEASLEY, RAID NOW!" Came the voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt and Ron sprang up and ran over to him. They started talking quickly and then both wizards disappeared without even a backward glance at Molly.

She stayed for a few minutes, still holding the photo, and then walked back to her office and sat down behind the flowers.

"Where have you been?"

"Toilet." Molly replied.

"Well, have you finished checking my report?" Megan seemed annoyed and Molly guessed it was because Banks' wife hadn't left yet.

"No." Molly was still holding the photo and staring at the flowers.

"Well, get on with it, stop fantasising about your secret lover!"

"I don't have a secret lover." Molly snapped.

"Please, flowers and notes, I'm not stupid, tell him to stop sending them to work. It's unprofessional."

Molly didn't reply and spent the rest of the day working on Megan's report. When she left her desk she considered going back up to the Auror office but in the end she Floo-d home.

She tried again to find the missing chapter on her computer and then tried to re-write it but her mind could not leave the muggle photograph. Cursing computers she stood up and Floo-ed to Shell Cottage to see Uncle Bill.

"Molly, how are you?" He asked, pausing his charming of the washing up.

"Better thanks, have you got a minute?"

"Of course, cup of tea?"

"Yes please, where's Auntie Fleur?"

"She's gone for a spa treatment with Dom, pre-season treat."

"Oh, that's nice. You didn't fancy a pedicure then?" Bill laughed but didn't reply. He made the tea and then took the tray through to the living room and Molly sat down in an armchair.

"So, what can I do for my God-daughter?" He asked, smiling.

"I… I was wondering… I don't mean… to be rude…"

"Come on Molls, spit it out." Bill laughed, not picking up on how nervous she was.

"The wards, on my flat. Are you sure you did them right?" Bill looked surprised.

"What do you mean? Why?"

"I just… is there anyway someone could… get in?"

"To your flat?"

"Yeah… a stranger?"

"Not through the wards, the Floo might be a weak spot though, why?"

"Someone could get through the Floo?" Molly asked, a sinking feeling in her stomach; it was her preferred mode of transport.

"They'd have to have high-level clearance from the Ministry, Aurors or something similar. Why? Do you think you've been burgled?"

"No… not burgled…" The fireplace next to Molly burst into life and she jumped so much she poured hot tea all over her legs.

"Shit!" She exclaimed, standing up quickly. Auntie Fleur appeared and looked surprised to see Molly there.

"Molly, are you alright?" She asked.

"Fine… what's the burn-relief charm again?"

"_Coolify_!" Her Uncle said, pointing his wand at Molly's legs and she felt instant relief.

"Thanks Uncle Bill." She said, trying to relax her breathing. "I better go, see you soon."

"Molly are you…?"

"I'm fine, thanks for the tea." Molly nearly fell into the fireplace and immediately Floo-ed home, knowing it would be one of the last times she did.

* * *

The next morning she put a muggle-map of London in her bag before Floo-ing to the Ministry and went straight down to the Floo-regulation office on the third floor. She waited for the office to open and then walked up to the witch.

"Hi, I want to disconnect my fireplace." She said, hoping it would be quick.

"Why?" The witch asked.

"Do I have to give a reason?" Molly retorted.

"No, just wondered. What's the address Miss Weasley?"

"Number four, Grouten Rd." She replied. The witch disappeared and returned moments later with a small file.

"Do you want to close it to everyone? Completely remove it from the network?"

"Yes." Molly said firmly, wondering how she would get to the Burrow. Perhaps she could ask Uncle Harry if she could use Grimmauld Place on Sundays?

"Sign here." Molly signed. "How long will it take? To close?"

"It's already done, charmed parchment. Let me know if you change your mind."

"Thank you." Molly left and walked back up to the MWEC office, Megan was already there.

"You're late again." She said, filing her nails.

"Sorry, I had to pop down to the Floo regulation office. Do you want a coffee?" She asked, putting her bag on her desk. Megan nodded and Molly walked to the station and was unsurprised to find her mother there, talking with Aunt Hermione.

"Hi." She said, they both greeted her.

"Oh, by the way I've removed my flat from the Floo network, you'll have to Apparate if you want me."

"What? Why? How are you going to get to work?" Her mother asked.

"The underground, muggle trains."

"What about the Burrow, Molly?" Aunt Hermione asked kindly. Molly prepared Megan's coffee as she answered.

"Not sure yet, I might…"

"For goodness sake Molly, you can't even Apparate! You never think things through!" Her mother stormed off and Molly watched her turned into her office.

"Perhaps you could ask Harry if you could use Grimmauld Place?"

"Yeah, I was thinking that. No one's using it are they?"

"Not yet but Charlie is when he moves back."

"Cool."

"Why did you disconnect Molly?" Her Aunt asked carefully.

"Just…" Molly hesitated and nearly told her Aunt everything but a delivery boy passed her with a bouquet of flowers and she froze.

"Molly?"

"I… sorry Aunt Hermione, I've got to go, have a nice day." Molly grabbed the coffees and made it to the office just behind the delivery boy who put the flowers on Molly's desk and then left the office. She put the two coffees on Megan's desk and walked back to her own.

The blue parchment wasn't an envelope and Molly felt relieved. She read the words with a held breath.

_Your words are like music to me._

_Xxx_

She sighed slightly in relief; it wasn't that creepy, for him. Molly vanished the flowers and started sorting the mail.

When Banks and Megan had finished their meeting the witch walked back into the office and took the coffee into Banks. Molly worked on her report till lunch and didn't give much thought to the note, until she picked up her bag.

Her writing notebook was in there. Molly carried it everywhere with her so that wasn't what shocked her. _Your words are like music to me_. What if he knew about her writing? She had never told anyone but what if Xxx had found out somehow, what if he had deleted the chapter?

Molly ate lunch at her desk again, still avoiding the canteen. When she left the office at the end of the day she walked to the Atrium, looking at the muggle map.

"Molly!" Molly looked up at the voice and saw Uncle Harry walking towards her, through the crowds.

"Hi Uncle Harry." She said, putting the book at her side.

"Hermione said you wanted to use the Floo network at Grimmauld Place?"

"Oh yeah, just for the Burrow. Do you mind?"

"Not at all, why have you disconnected your Floo?"

"Just wanted to walk to work." She lied, knowing that Harry would see straight through that.

"Molly? That's a lie." He said, looking at her through his glasses. She looked down, wondering what to say.

"It's nothing Uncle Harry, say hi to Ginny for me." Molly turned and left before she could make up her mind about telling him.

By the time she got home it was half six and she was exhausted. She was going to have to get up over an hour earlier to make it into word on time. She put down her bag and looked around her flat; it looked the same and undisturbed.

* * *

The rest of the week passed quickly and in a haze of tiredness. Flowers and notes continued to arrive daily but thankfully no letters. She had not heard from Victoire so she assumed that her cousin had been unable to get tickets for Dom's match.

On Saturday Molly left the flat early with her notebook. She no longer trusted her computer, and she no longer felt safe in her flat.

She spent the whole day writing in a café and then bought two cards from a stationary shop (one celebratory and one commiserations) for Dom, planning to check the Quidditch score in the evening Prophet. She ate out at a fast food restaurant and then returned to her flat at seven and saw a bouquet of flowers outside her door.

She picked up the card and vanished the flowers before entering her flat and checking every room to make sure she was alone. She checked the paper and saw, to her delight, that the Tornado's had won and that Dom had got a personal best goal score. She filled in the congratulations card and sent it with the owl that delivered the paper and then sat down to read the note.

It was thick, she pulled out the photo first. It was a picture of her on the underground, writing in her notepad. The picture had been taken from across the aisle but Molly couldn't remember who had sat there, if anyone. She put down the photo and turned over the envelope.

_Have a lovely day, my sweetheart_

_Xxx_

Molly put her head in her hands and made a fearful noise before putting the letter and photo in the box and then closing her curtains, locking her door and windows and climbing into bed.

She didn't sleep well and when she woke she lay in bed until after ten just thinking and worrying. A loud banging on her door woke her up and she pulled on her dressing gown and grabbed her wand before going into the living room.

"Who is it?" She asked.

"It's Dom, open the fucking door now before I kick it in!" Molly's eyes opened in surprise and she opened the door.

Dom looked absolutely livid. She was holding the congratulations card that Molly had sent her in one hand and her wand in the other.

"Dom, what…?" Molly began but she was stopped by Dom punching her hard in the side of the face. She fell to the ground with the force and surprise of the assault.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Dom roared, pointing her wand at Molly's chest.

"What's wrong with _me_? Why did you punch me?" Molly gasped, holding the left side of her face and pointing her own wand back at Dom, not that it would be much good because Dom was a brilliant dueller.

"'CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR AMAZING ACHIEVEMENT, I KNEW YOU HAD IT IN YOU AND I'M REALLY PROUD TO CALL YOU MY COUSIN'" Dom read Molly's words back to her in a sing-song voice.

"So?"

"You fucking bitch! Just because you're a bloody failure doesn't mean you need to congratulate the rest of us when we fuck up!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Molly asked, sitting up and trying not to be hurt by Dom's words; her cousin was clearly very angry.

"It's bad enough you didn't come to the match when I got you into the top box but then you mock me!"

"I didn't hear from Victoire, I assumed she hadn't got tickets and I didn't mock you, I was congratulating you, you were amazing."

"I didn't score a fucking goal and I'm benched for the next match, that might be amazing in your world Molly but it sure isn't in mine!" Tears sprang to Dom's eyes and Molly was completely blind-sided. "And you sent the owl in the middle of the fucking night!"

"No I didn't, I sent it at seven, and the prophet said you got a personal best, that the Tornado's won!" Molly stood up and moved over to the table. She turned the Prophet over and gasped as she read the headline.

_WEASLEY BENCHED IN WORST TORNADO'S PERFORMANCE IN YEARS!_

"What? No… it said…" Molly stuttered; this didn't make any sense.

"And don't even think about coming to the Burrow today because I won't hesitate to use Aunt Ginny's Bat Bogey hex!" Molly turned around and saw that Dom was moving out just as someone knocked on the door. Dom opened it and the delivery man passed her the flowers.

"Oh, this is why you didn't come? Got a boyfriend so don't give a shit about your family? Just stay the fuck away from me Molly, I'm sick of you!" Dom put the flowers on the floor and made to move past the man with the clipboard.

"No, Dom wait, I don't understand what…" Dom disapparated without looking back at Molly.

"Sign here, Miss Weasley, and you might want to put some ice on that eye." Molly signed the form and then shut the door.

She vanished the flowers which had three black petals, and the note fell to the floor. Molly tried to vanish it but it wouldn't go. She left it on the floor and walked to her fridge to get some ice for her face.

Molly couldn't understand it, the Prophet had definitely said that Dom had done well, that the Tornado's had won, she remembered reading it!

* * *

Mrs Weasley watched Dominique apparate from beside the Burrow and could tell from her stance that she was still disappointed about yesterday's performance. The rest of the family had already arrived, apart from Molly.

"Best not mention yesterday." Ron said, folding up the paper and putting it under his chair.

"Poor girl, it's a tough sport." Molly said as her granddaughter approached the table.

"Ted, can you fix my hand?" Dom sniffed angrily, holding out a bruised had to Ted who leaned forward to examine it.

"Christ, what happened Dom? Looks like you've punched someone." He said, pulling out his wand. Molly glanced to the fireplace, waiting for Molly to arrive before serving.

"I did, Grandma. Molly's not coming."

"Is she ill again? Is that why she wasn't at the match?" Victoire asked as Ted healed Dom's hand.

"No, I punched her in the face and told her not to come." Dom said bluntly.

"What? Why did you punch her? Is she alright?" Bill asked, standing up and looking at his daughter sternly.

"She's fine, she sent me this at three o'clock this morning so I went to her flat and punched her." Dom threw the card into the middle of the table and the whole family leaned in to read it.

"Why would she send that?" Hermione asked, looking back at Dom who was still making angry noises.

"I don't know but I'm so fucking…"

"Don't use that language! You shouldn't have punched Molly." Bill said.

"I don't get why she'd send that. Why didn't she come to the match? We went to pick her up but she wasn't in." Ted said, putting down his wand.

"She said she hadn't heard from Victoire, and then she said that the Prophet said we'd won and that I'd got a personal best."

"That's ridiculous." Ron said, pulling out his paper from under the chair. It was yesterday's and the headline was clear.

"Then she got flowers!" Dom said, gesticulating wildly.

"Again? She's been getting them for weeks." Ted said, before noticing the bouquet on Molly's window. "Just like those."

"They were hers, she had them delivered here last weekend. She didn't say who they were from." Arthur said, glancing at the still-perfect flowers.

"They look expensive." Angelina said, standing up and moving over to them.

"She's shut off her Floo network." Hermione said, looking worried.

"Really, when?" Bill asked.

"Friday." Audrey said, still looking at the flowers.

"She asked me about the wards around her flat the other day, I didn't think much of it."

"I reckon she's cracking up." Dom said, picking up a bread roll. "Anyway I don't want to talk about it anymore, I'm too angry."

The family let the conversation drop but Molly felt deeply uncomfortable about it, she looked over at the clock and saw that Molly's hand was still on 'Home', and then started serving the lunch.

* * *

Molly tried to avoid her family all week and due to a big court case coming up it wasn't that hard. She worked on the Dragon-sheep project until after seven every night and then walked back to her flat and fell into bed.

She was not sleeping well and on Friday morning she slept through her charm, again, and was over an hour late for work.

"Weasley! You're late!" Megan snapped, looking more stressed than usual.

"I know, sorry, I over-slept."

"I've sorted the mail but I need that Robes report, I'm presenting it to Muggle liaison this afternoon, where the hell is it?"

"I put it on your desk, last night." Molly said calmly, walking over to Megan's desk and opened the top drawer; it wasn't there.

"Where is it?"

"You must have moved it." Molly said with a creeping sense of dread, a lost report for Megan would be a nightmare.

"I haven't bloody moved it, where is it? I've tried summoning it and everything!"

The searched for the report for over an hour and they couldn't find it, Megan was hysterical and Molly had to explain to Banks that she had lost the report. He was not happy and threatened to suspend her.

She sat back down at her desk while Megan and Banks discussed the incident and Molly barely looked up until flowers appeared on her desk. She didn't thank the delivery man and vanished the flowers before he had even left the office.

The blue parchment fell to the desk and Molly looked at it.

_You talk in your sleep, I wish you said my name._

_Xxx_

It was an envelope and Molly opened it and pulled out a muggle photo of herself, sat at her desk. It looked like it had been taken the previous night when Molly had been working overtime. The photo had been taken from near the bookcase. Molly stood up and walked over to see if there was any evidence of disturbance there.

"Weasley, what the hell are you doing?" Megan asked, looking at her from Banks' door. Their boss was also looking at Molly in confusion.

"Nothing." Molly put the photo behind her back and looked at her boss. "I don't know how it happened sir, I really don't."

"Listen Miss Weasley, I know the demotion must have been hard for you but… stealing a report is not the way to go…"

"I didn't steal it sir! I put it in Megan's desk, I remember…"

"But it's gone Miss Weasley that is your own carelessness and not Megan's fault."

"I…I really…" Molly felt like she was going to cry, what if she was sacked?

"I'm suspending you, one week on no pay. See you a week Monday." Molly nodded and moved to collect her bag and then almost ran out of the office without another word. Her life was falling apart.

* * *

A/N So here's the September chapter for you, October is quite a busy month so it has 2 chapters. Please review!

Thanks to mozie for beta-ing.

Ages of the next generation; Ted 21, Victoire 20, Molly and Lucy 19, Dom 19, Louie 17, James 15, Fred 14, Albus and Rosie 13, Roxanne 12, Lily and Hugo 11.

witchprincess33- Lol, I'm prolonging the drama by making it real time!

xXMizz Alec VolturiXx- Thanks!

LUG-14- Thanks, your reviews always make me smile!

Allen Pitt- 'secret sabotage-er in the guise of an admirer' is a perfect way of putting it!

AJDreamz- Thanks!

Jessalynvix- Thanks!

Black Stars- The flowers will become very symbolic and important.


	3. October- Part One

October- Part one

Molly arrived at her parents' house for her and Lucy's, (mainly Lucy's), birthday party, feeling like complete crap. Her father wasn't talking to her because of work. Dom wasn't talking to her because of Quidditch and Ted was so worried about the proposal that he hadn't seen Molly in weeks.

She had spent her suspended week writing in her flat. Xxx could clearly get to her anywhere and Molly still felt safest in her flat, it was _her_ flat, her home. She had not been to the Burrow since the Quidditch incident and she had only briefly seen family members at work when she returned.

Molly had Floo-ed from Grimmauld Place and arrived by tripping out of the fireplace and almost into Uncle Charlie's lap.

"Drunk already, Molls?" Uncle Ron asked.

"I'm not drunk." Molly snapped, looking up at her Uncle and getting to her feet.

"Woo, I know, I was only joking. Happy birthday."

"Thanks." She muttered, looking around the room; everyone was already here.

"You're late Molly, we said six." Her father said, walking into the room and putting a plate of food on a buffet table.

"You said seven." Molly replied, absolutely sure.

"We said six." Her mother said. Molly was about to reply when her Grandmother appeared and pulled her into a hug.

"Molly dear, happy birthday!"

"Thanks, Grandma."

"You look tired, you're working too hard." She heard someone snort behind her but she couldn't tell who it was.

The first part of the evening passed well although Molly was exhausted and didn't feel particularly chatty. When Ted called everyone's attention Molly smiled at him in encouragement.

"Hi, everyone, sorry to interrupt but I need to ask someone a question." Ted walked over to Victoire who was texting on her phone.

"Victoire?" He asked. She glanced at him and then put her phone in her pocket.

"What?" She asked. Ted kneeled down and her eyes widened.

"Victoire Weasley, will you marry me?" Everyone gasped in delight and Molly smiled. Victoire did not.

"What?" She asked.

"Will you marry me?"

"No… I can't… you shouldn't have… it's Molly and Lucy's birthday for Merlin's sake!"

"So, I asked Molly." Ted asked, causing Victoire to look over at Molly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She said, looking angry.

"I asked her not to, what's wrong? Don't you want to marry me?" Ted stood up and everyone looked on awkwardly.

"Look Ted, I didn't want to tell you like this but… I've met someone else." Everyone froze and Ted looked devastated; he pulled Victoire out of the room and everyone looked around with wide eyes.

"Didn't see that one coming." Uncle Ron said, sipping on his Firewhisky.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" Lucy asked, looking at Molly.

"It was a surprise!" Molly said indignantly. "I didn't know it would…" Molly struggled for words, still reeling from Victoire's confession. Ted and Victoire were her best friends; she had thought they would get married and live happily ever after.

"You should have told me! It's my birthday!" Lucy said. Molly turned away, not trusting herself to reply.

"It's alright Luce, we can still announce." Brian said. Molly turned back.

"It's ruined now!"

"No it's not, it will save the night, everyone Lucy and I are getting married!" There was a pause and then people started clapping. Molly didn't, knowing that her sister thought Molly had stolen her thunder when Lucy had planned to steal the night for herself.

Molly sat down as her family congratulated the couple and Aunt Hermione sat next to her.

"Are you alright Molly? You've not been yourself lately."

"I've completely been myself, I've managed to mess everything up, that's exactly myself." Molly couldn't help the angry tears.

"Oh Molly, don't be so hard on yourself. We all love you." Molly snorted. "And I hear you have a secret admirer?"

"What? Who told you that?" Molly asked, standing up quickly.

"Well…"

"Alright, sweetheart?" Uncle Charlie asked, walking over to her. Molly gasped; Xxx had started calling her sweetheart.

"What did you call me?" She asked.

"Sweetheart, why?" Before Molly could answer Victoire ran back into the room with tears streaming down her face. She grabbed her wand and bag from next to Molly.

"You should have told me!" She yelled at Molly before running out again and disapparating. After a moment Ted walked in, looking utterly heartbroken.

He sat down next to Molly and looked at her.

"Did you know, Molly?" He asked, with tear-filled eyes.

"No, of course I didn't." She replied, feeling angry at Ted for even suggesting it.

"You must have known something…" Lucy began and Molly's temper snapped and she stormed over to the fireplace and picked up some Floo powder.

"D'you what? Not everything that goes wrong in the world is my fault!" She dropped the Floo powder and called out, 'Grimmauld Place' and watched the shocked faces of her family disappear in a haze of green.

When she returned to the flat a blue parchment note was waiting for her outside the door. She picked it up.

_Happy birthday, sweetheart._

_Xxx_

Molly entered her flat, checked every room, and then made herself a hot chocolate with tears pouring down her face.

* * *

When Molly woke up on Sunday morning she felt groggy and hung-over again. She moved to the bathroom and took a head-ache potion and her head cleared. She made a cup of tea and then switched on the computer. However before she could start writing an owl arrived at the window.

She looked at the attached letter and saw that it was on MWEC paper. Wondering why they wanted to contact her on a Sunday she moved over to the window and detached the parchment and opened the envelope.

_Weasley,_

_Where the hell are you? You're supposed to be here at nine, not when you feel like it!_

_Megan_

Molly furrowed her brow; it was Sunday. She didn't work weekends, the MWEC office was closed on Sundays. Molly moved back over to the computer and looked at the time in the corner of the screen. 10.22. She hovered the mouse over it and froze when she saw the date. Monday 5th October.

"No." She muttered to herself, that couldn't be right. It was Sunday; it had been her birthday yesterday.

A knock at the door disturbed her confusion and she opened the door to the delivery man.

"What day is it?" She asked, not taking the flowers.

"Monday mam, I've got yesterday's as well because you didn't answer and the instructions were to redeliver today."

"You're sure it's Monday?" Molly asked as the man put the flowers on the floor and passed her the clipboard.

"Positive, have a nice day." He left and Molly looked down at the flowers… four petals… She vanished them before picking up both notes.

_I'll see you this evening, my sleeping beauty._

_Xxx_

Molly, threw it on the floor and looked at the next one; it was an envelope.

_Tut tut, late for work again._

_Xxx_

Molly opened the envelope and it was another one of her asleep. She gasped as she realised that she was wearing different pyjames in the photo to what she woke up in; he had changed her. He had probably drugged her, she needed to eat out, she needed to move out.

Molly changed quickly and grabbed her bag before running to the underground station.

When she arrived at work it was just before lunch.

"Where the hell have you been?" Megan said, standing up and walking over to her.

"I..." Molly didn't know what to say, how could she explain?

"Banks wants to see you, take him a coffee first, I'll have a cappuccino." Molly put her bag down and then walked to the refreshment station. Her mother was standing there making a coffee.

"Mom, I need to talk to you." She said.

"Where were you yesterday, Lucy went to pick you up. Your Grandma wanted everyone together!"

"I was… sleeping."

"At lunchtime, for goodness sake, Molly!"

"Mom, can I move home?" She asked, knowing she would hate it but that she had no choice. Her mother looked beyond surprised.

"What? Why on earth would you want to move home?"

"Please? It's hard to explain."

"No, we've got the re-election and I don't want the papers thinking that you've gone bankrupt or something."

"Mom, please, it's really important." Molly begged. Her mother looked at her carefully before replying.

"You need to learn to stand on your own two feet, Molly." She walked away and Molly fought back tears as she made the drinks. She didn't even bother making herself tea.

She walked back to the office and put Megan's drink on her desk before knocking on Banks' door. He told her to enter so she did, placing the coffee on his desk before looking up at him.

"I'm sorry I was late sir, I've been a bit… confused." That was putting it mildly.

"Sit down, Weasley." She sat.

"I've really tried to help you here, we didn't really need anyone else in the office but I gave you a job because I respect your father."

"I know, sir."

"Yes, well. The thing is Molly, it's not that you aren't progressing that worries me, you're actually slowing the office down. We can't have that, it doesn't make sense." Molly was being fired; she couldn't have that.

"I'd like to quit, effective immediately." She said, looking straight at Banks'.

"I think that is wise, Molly, I'll explain to your father…"

"No, you won't tell him anything. You won't mention me at all."

"Excuse me?" Banks' said, looking surprised at the tone of Molly's voice.

"If you tell my father I quit, or that you were going to fire me I'll tell everyone about you and Megan."

"What about me and Megan?" He asked, in a dangerous voice.

"That you have sex every morning, and most afternoons. Your poor wife and all those children."

"Are you blackmailing me?" He said, looking stern.

"Yes I am." Molly replied.

"Blackmailing a Ministry official is a serious offence."

"So is sleeping with your assistant, and I think that offence would have more far-reaching consequences, don't you?"

"And what should I say when your father asks about you?" Banks asked, with narrowing eyes.

"Lie, you must be quite proficient in the art of lying by now, Mr Banks. How long has Megan worked here? And I highly doubt she was the first." Molly stood up and took a deep breath. "Good day, Mr Banks." Molly walked out of the office and moved to her desk to gather her possessions.

"Clearing out your desk, Weasley? Not surprised…"

"MEGAN!" Came Mr Bank's voice from his office. She ran in and Molly shrunk all her possessions and walked out of the office, knowing that Megan would now also hold her silence.

Molly walked straight up to the Auror office, looking for Victoire. She found her in her cubicle, looking stressed.

"Victoire, I need to talk to you." Molly said. The junior Auror turned around and looked at her cousin.

"Now you want to talk, now!"

"This is important, I need your help." Molly said firmly.

"Fat bloody chance!"

"How is it my fault that you were cheating on Ted?" Molly said quietly; this day was turning into a nightmare.

"You could have told me he was going to propose!"

"Victoire I need your help!" Molly said, getting desperate.

"Well, you can fuck off, go and ask Ted! You two obviously have lots of secret meetings, perhaps you're even shagging…"

"Victoire! If you can't keep your personal life at home then you'll be suspended. Molly, I thought better of you." Uncle Ron said, walking over to them. Molly looked up at her Uncle.

"Uncle Ron, I need…"

"You need to get a grip, Molly. Go back to work." Molly stared at him for another second and then stormed out of the office.

Instead of going back to the flat she got the underground to St. Mungo's and walked up the the welcome witch.

"Yes?" The young witch said in a bored voice.

"I need to see Healer Lupin."

"He's busy."

"I'll wait. Can you tell him Molly is here to see him?" Molly didn't wait for an answer but went to sit in the waiting room and pulled out her notebook to start writing.

It was after five when Ted finally walked into the waiting room, he didn't appear to notice Molly and made to walk out of the hospital.

"TED!" Molly yelled, getting to her feet and walking over to him. He looked like he hadn't slept and his eyes were puffy.

"Molly? What the hell are you doing here? Are you hurt?"

"I've been here since lunch, I told the witch to get a message to you."

"I didn't hear, are you hurt?"

"No but… I need your help, Ted."

"Why don't you ask Victoire?" He said.

"I did but…"

"You went to her first, bloody marvellous. She had an affair and you're still on her side!"

"No… I'm on your side…"

"You've got a funny way of showing it." And without another word Ted stormed out of the hospital and by the time Molly had reached the Apparation point he had already disapparated.

This was a nightmare, this had to be a nightmare, Molly thought as she sat on the underground back to the flat. She would wake up and it would be Sunday morning again, or even better, Friday morning.

She was crying as she reached her flat but she didn't wipe away the tears. She opened the door and walked inside before dropping onto the sofa and crying like a child that had hurt its knee. Like a baby that was scared.

The whole thing was a mess, she had no job, her friends hated her, her family were disappointed with her, and Xxx seemed to have no problem getting to her, anywhere.

* * *

A/N You're getting the first part of October a day early because I'm having a hip operation tomorrow so I won't be able to update it. The next chapter will be up in two weeks. Let me know what you think!

Next chapter; The family realise that something is not right with Molly but when they try and help her things don't go to plan.

Thanks to mozie for beta-ing!

LUG-14- Thanks, I'm glad you find the story creepy, that's what I'm aiming for!

Guest- I'm making the story real-time to prolong the drama!

witchprincess33- Lol, thanks!

xXMizz Alec VolturiXx- Only two weeks till then next update though!


	4. October- Part two

October –Part two

By the time October was drawing to a close Molly had not left her flat in weeks. After she had quit she had eaten out a few times but then she realised that she couldn't afford to keep spending money when her Gringotts account was not being added to. She had not heard from anyone in the family, not a single person. Not even her grandparents.

She had stuck paper over the windows to stop people looking in, she disconnected the computer and the phone line. She only ate and drank when she strictly had to; she was a mess, a complete mess.

* * *

"I haven't seen her at work for weeks." Hermione said from the table and Audrey nodded alone with her.

"But, haven't you seen her Victoire?" Molly asked, looking at her eldest biological Grandchild.

"No, not since after her birthday." Victoire answered evasively, in a way that made Molly sure that that meeting had not gone particularly well.

"I haven't seen her since there either, I haven't contacted her though. I thought you were…" Ted tailed off and Victoire shook her head.

"I thought you were seeing her as well." She said, looking uncomfortable.

"So, let's get this straight. When was the last time anyone has seen Molly?" Charlie asked. Molly glanced at her Grand-daughters hand on the clock and saw that it pointed to 'home', as the others answered.

"No one's seen her since the Monday after her birthday." Harry said, looking worried.

"She asked if she could move back home." Audrey said. Molly looked at her daughter-in-law bemused.

"Why? She loves living alone." Molly said and Audrey nodded.

"That's what I thought. I was annoyed with her and I told her she had to stand on her own two feet."

"She's late, I said seven, it's twenty past. She's never usually late." Arthur said and Molly nodded. She knew that no matter how upset Molly was she would never miss her Grandma's birthday.

"She asked for my help." Victoire said, looking up at Ron. "That day when she came to see me, she asked for my help but I was too angry."

"Did she say what she needed help for?" Harry asked.

"I just talked over her."

"She asked for my help too. I just stormed off." Ted said.

"She's not been right for weeks, months even." Hermione said, looking uncomfortable.

"Not since…" Victoire tailed off and then looked at her ex-boyfriend suddenly looking fearful.

"What?" Percy asked, looking between them.

"The flowers." Ted said and Victoire nodded.

"The secret admirer, you mean?" Lucy asked from next to her mother.

"She said that she didn't know who it was from. She was… it was starting to freak her out."

"I'm going round there." Percy said, standing up.

"No, listen Perce." Charlie said, standing up and looking at his brother. "You don't have the best track record for handling Molly, no offence."

"I love her, she's my daughter."

"Uncle Charlie's right, she knows that you love her Uncle Percy but if you go round she'll think she's in trouble or that you're having a go at her." Victoire said and Ted nodded.

"I'll go, you two can come with me." Charlie said, pointing at Ted and Victoire who nodded and stood up.

"Just… make sure she's okay. Tell her she can move home if she wants." Audrey said, looking uncharacteristically tearful. Charlie nodded and the three went outside to apparate to Molly's flat.

* * *

Molly lay on the sofa staring up at the ceiling, she needed to eat again soon; it had been a couple of days since she had a packet of crisps. Before she could make up her mind there was a knock at the door, she looked up sharply.

No one came to the door anymore, not even the delivery man. The flowers and notes just appeared, seemingly whenever Molly gave in to sleep. Things in the flat moved around as well, as if someone else was living here when Molly wasn't watching.

"Molly? Molly are you in there?" It was Uncle Charlie, Molly grabbed her wand from the table but didn't move from the sofa.

"Molly, it's Uncle Charlie. I've got Ted and Victoire here too, and we want to see you, let us in."

Molly stood up and pointed her wand at the door but didn't reply.

"Molly, we know you're in there. Let us in, it's Grandma's birthday." It was Victoire. Molly could feel tears springing to her eyes; why hadn't they invited her?

"Molly, we want to help you. I'm sorry I didn't listen, I was upset." Ted sounded sincere and more tears fell down Molly's face.

She sat on her computer chair with her wand pointed at the door, she couldn't let them in. It wasn't safe in here and she was angry with them, and confused and _so_ tired.

They kept trying to convince her and then there were sounds of bangs of spells hitting the door. Molly had spent days going through her Charms textbook and reinforcing the security and she was proud that they didn't seem to be able to break through them.

After a few more minutes there was another crack and Molly wondered if they had left.

"Molly, it's Uncle Harry. Listen to me, I'm going to break the door down, stand back." Molly didn't move, she just sat on the chair and waited. Harry would be able to break through, he was an Auror and was used to disabling security charms. What would she say to them?

The door was blasted off its hinges and Molly was thrown onto the floor. She sat up quickly, ignoring the pain, and pointed her wand at her Uncles. She couldn't see Ted and Victoire but she knew they were there.

"Molly? What's going on? What's happened?" Uncle Harry asked, moving to her. She shuffled away and kept her wand on him.

"Molly, put down your wand. We want to help you." He said, kneeling down but not moving forwards.

"It's too late." Molly croaked; it had been weeks since she had spoken, not since she had seen Ted in St Mungo's.

"It's okay, sweetheart we're…" Uncle Charlie began but Molly cut across him.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" She yelled, jumping to her feet and almost falling down again; she felt so weak.

Her wand was shaking in her hand and sparks were shooting out of it, unintentional sparks but sparks nonetheless.

"_Expelliarmus!_" Uncle Harry disarmed her and caught Molly's wand with his right hand and put it in his pocket.

"Molly, it's Mom's birthday. You're late…"

"I didn't get invited!" Molly yelled, tears pouring down her face.

"You did Molly, she sent an owl. Perhaps they couldn't get in." Uncle Harry said, pointing to the windows that Molly had boarded up. Ted and Victoire walked in from the hallway.

"Merlin, Molls! What the hell has happened to you?" Ted said, staring at her. Molly looked down at her body; she knew that she had lost weight but it wasn't safe to eat.

"I can't eat."

"Why?" Victoire asked, also looking appalled.

"It's not safe, he's poisoned the food, and the water." Molly said, rubbing her hands together to try and get warmer.

"Who, Molly?" Uncle Charlie asked, taking a step towards her.

"Xxx."

"Who is it?" Ted asked.

"I don't know! I don't know who he is! He keeps getting in, he leaves me flowers and notes and… he takes pictures of me and… he always finds me…" Molly collapsed onto the floor and pulled her knees to her chest as she cried.

"Molly, we're going to take you to the Burrow, and then we'll find out who's doing this, okay?" Uncle Harry said loudly, over the sound of Molly's sobbing.

"He'll… know… he'll know I'm there!"

"We'll keep you safe, Molly. Everything's going to be okay now, I promise." Harry knelt down in front of her and she looked up at him through swollen eyes.

"You promise?" She sniffed.

"I promise." Uncle Harry put his hand on Molly's shoulder and she moved towards him and he hugged her tightly, promising that he would keep her safe.

After a few minutes Harry pulled her to her feet and walked her towards the blasted-in doorway.

"Ted, grab a blanket, she's freezing." He said and Ted made to move to Molly's bedroom.

"No! It's not safe… don't you understand? Nothing's safe in here… he's been here!" She yelled and Ted looked at her in shock.

"Okay Molls, I'll conjure one, is that okay?" He asked. Molly looked at him for a moment, thinking, and then nodded. He conjured a thick red fleecy blanket and Harry wrapped it around her shoulders and then led her into the hallway.

"Victoire, seal the door. I'll side-long you, hold on tight, Molly." She gripped his offered hand and the Apparation took them to the boundary of the Burrow.

Molly closed her eyes for a moment; it was so bright and she had not been outside in weeks and had boarded up the windows. Uncle Charlie arrived and Molly assumed that Ted had stayed with Victoire while she sealed up the flat.

"I haven't bought a present." Molly said as they passed the chicken shed.

"I don't think Mom will mind, Molly. Don't worry about it." Uncle Charlie walked into the Burrow ahead of them.

"Molly, your leg's bleeding. Did you splinch?" Harry asked.

"I don't know." Molly replied, completely unconcerned. All she wanted to do was sleep. As they entered the kitchen Molly heard the cracks of Ted and Victoire arriving.

"Molly! Good grief! What's happened?" Her father was on his feet instantly and ran over to reach her.

"Let's just get her to the sofa, Percy. We need to get Ted to look at her, and she needs some food." Uncle Harry said, still holding onto Molly's arm. He led her into the sitting room and she didn't look at anyone else in the kitchen, she kept her eyes on the floor.

"Sit down, Molly." Molly sat down on the sofa and her mother came and knelt in front of her. She looked pale and scared, and more _human_ than Molly had ever seen her.

"Molly? What's happened?"

"I… I don't know how it happened Mom, I'm sorry." Molly said, looking into her mother's face and wondering how her life had fallen apart so quickly and so completely.

Ted entered the room and her mother stood up to let him in.

"Molly, when was the last time you ate?" He asked, sitting on the footstool.

"I had some crisps."

"When? Today?"

"No."

"Yesterday? Monday?"

"I can't remember, I don't know what day it is."

"What about work, Molly?" Her father asked, not in a critical way, from near the fireplace.

"I quit."

"Why?"

"He found me there… took pictures of me at my desk and…" Molly started crying again and Ted rubbed her arm and turned back to her father.

"Can we do those questions later, Uncle Percy?" He asked.

"Yeah, sure, sorry. Just wondered how…" Her father tailed off and Molly closed her eyes.

"Molly stay awake, I need to talk to you." Ted said and she opened her eyes again and tried to focus on his face.

"Tired."

"When was the last time you slept?"

"I try not to… he drugs the food and comes in when I'm asleep." Molly heard her father swear in anger but she knew it was not directed at her.

"Can you remember when you last slept properly?"

"Properly?" Molly asked, confused.

"Straight through the night."

"When I had the migraine."

"No, not when you weren't feeling well, when you slept properly, no potions."

"Oh… when I stayed here." Ted looked over his shoulder.

"Start of September, oh Molly!" Her Grandma said tearfully.

"Okay Molly, I want you to eat something and…"

"I can't! I can't eat, Ted, it's not safe!"

"This food is safe Molly, we've all had some." Uncle Harry said. Molly looked over at him, unconvinced. "I'll get Hermione to check it if you want?" Molly nodded and her Uncle and Grandma disappeared into the kitchen.

"And then I'll give you a potion so you can sleep, we'll stay with you. We won't leave you on your own." Molly nodded and then Ted looked at her leg.

"When did this happen?" He asked.

"I don't know." She said quietly, her eyes not moving from the top of Ted's head. He waved his wand on it and the pain vanished.

"I'm going to take some blood Molly, get the hospital to run some tests, okay?" Molly nodded and Ted drew some blood with his wand and put it in a little glass pot and then in his pocket.

"Are you hurt anywhere else, Molly?" He asked. Molly looked at him, thinking.

"My stomach, I had to cut it."

"Why?"

"He carved his name, Xxx and I had to cut it out."

"Can I see?" He asked and Molly lifted her thin t-shirt; it had scabbed over now but it looked infected. "When did this happen?"

"I can't remember." Molly said honestly; the days had all blended into one.

"What did you use? To cut it?"

"A knife."

"A knife?"

"Yeah, a kitchen knife." Ted looked concerned.

"I've got some cream here, you can rub it on." He passed her a pot. She looked at the green paste.

"What's in it?"

"It's essence of dittancy and an antibiotic, for the infection."

"How do you know?" She asked.

"Because I made it, at work."

"He could have switched them."

"He didn't, Molls. Please, put it on. I promise it's safe." Molly hesitated for another moment and then rubbed the paste on her stomach and pulled her t-shirt back down.

Her Grandma, Uncle Harry and Aunt Hermione returned with a plate of sandwiches and Ted moved so they could put it on the footstool. Harry knelt down next to the food.

"Hermione checked it, it's all safe." Molly looked at her Aunt.

"How do you know?" She asked. She heard her mother start to cry but Molly wasn't sure why.

"I checked it Molly, with spells, it's all fine. I promise, do you want me to eat some first?" Molly nodded and her Aunt lifted the sandwich and took a bite. Molly waited for a few minutes and then took her sandwich that her Aunt offered her and ate a bite.

The tit-for-tat eating continued until Molly had eaten half of four sandwiches, and drank half a glass of Pumpkin juice.

"Okay Molly you need to sleep now, I've got a potion for dreamless sleep, I checked it and we'll stay here with you. We won't leave you alone." Ted looked at her seriously and Molly looked around at the others. Uncle Harry and Charlie nodded next to her parents and Grandma.

"You promise?" She asked, tears running down her face; she was so tired.

"We promise, Molls, drink the potion." Uncle Charlie said and she nodded and took the potions from Ted. She brought the potion to her lips but hesitated.

"I… I'm really sorry…" She said, looking over at her parents in particular. Her father walked over to her and Ted moved out of the way.

"Don't apologise, Molly. I'm sorry I didn't protect you. I will now, I promise. I love you, drink the potion sweetheart…"

"No, Molly he didn't mean that! Don't call her that Perce!" Uncle Charlie said, moving and sitting next to Molly.

"I… I can't take it… it's not safe…" Molly said, her eyes wide and fearful again.

"It's safe Molly, I promise you it's safe." Her father said, with tears in his eyes.

"You'll stay?" She asked, looking at him like she hadn't done in years.

"I'll stay, I won't leave you until it's over." He said. He pulled Molly into a hug and she cried onto his shoulder for a few minutes. When she pulled away her father nodded and she took the potion.

Her family breathed a sigh of relief and Charlie moved and Molly lifted her legs onto the sofa. They all waited for the potion to work but after a few minutes Molly felt no different and she pulled her legs up to her chest.

"You… you tricked me! It's not working! It's not a sleeping potion, what is it?" She cried, looking over at Ted who looked completely nonplussed.

"It is Molly, it is a sleeping potion I promise! Just have another dose!" He said, looking at the bottle again.

"No, you lied to me!"

"Molly, listen, think about this. If this man has been putting potion in your food then maybe your tolerance has increased?" Uncle Harry said, moving over to her.

"No, you're tricking me! You don't believe me! He said you wouldn't… he said you wouldn't!" She saw Uncle Harry turn to Ted and mutter something and she moved off the sofa and into the corner.

"What are you doing?" She yelled, pointing at them.

"Molly, you need to try and calm down." Ted said firmly.

"No, you're tricking me! You're talking about me! I saw the papers, I know you've been telling them about me!"

"Molly, there's been nothing in the papers…" Her mother began but Molly had reached breaking point and she flew across the room at her mother and they both fell to the floor.

"MOLLY, NO!"

"STUPEFY!" Came her Uncle's voice and the spell hit her on the back and finally she slumped into unconsciousness.

"Shit, I didn't want to have to do that. Are you alright, Audrey?" Harry asked, moving to help Ted lift Molly off her mother.

"I'm fine, just a shock." Audrey said and her husband lifted her to her feet as Ted moved Molly over to the sofa.

"I'm going to rush these bloods to the hospital; we need to find out how much potion is in her system. Best keep her stunned till I get back."

"Right, Take Victoire with you and stay with the sample until we know what we're dealing with." Ted nodded and left the room.

There was silence for a few minutes and then Harry looked at Percy.

"We'll find out who's behind this."

"I… I can't believe this… look at her! Why the hell didn't she come to us?" He said, pointing at his daughter.

"I think she tried, Percy. She spoke to Bill about the wards, she went to see Ron but he got called away, she asked Ted and Victoire but they were too wrapped up in their own lives at the time, she closed her Floo, she asked to move home…" Hermione tailed off and Percy looked at her.

"Why didn't she come to me?"

"Would you have listened? Would either of us, Percy?" Audrey said, sitting next to Molly and pulling the conjured blanket over her. "I should have asked Banks where she was. I should have…"

"There's no use thinking like that now, we need to figure out who's doing this. I'm going to go to the flat with Ron, while she's stunned, and we'll find the evidence." Harry left the room and there was silence again for a few minutes.

Lucy walked in and looked at her sister.

"Ted said you had to stun her?"

"Yes, she became dangerous." Hermione said softly.

"Molly's not dangerous." Lucy said tearfully.

"She's not herself right now, Luce, she's terrified. Terrified people are dangerous. She thought we were trying to poison her." Charlie said and Lucy gasped.

"What did she mean about the papers? There's been no stories about her!" Percy said, sitting down and running his hand through his hair.

"I was thinking about that. Perhaps this person has been changing her papers. It would explain why she sent Dom that congratulations card." Hermione said and Charlie nodded.

"That makes sense, fucking bastard."

"He's clearly put a lot of time into it, completely tilting her reality and making her a prisoner in her own flat." Hermione said, putting her arm around Lucy and trying to comfort her.

"I'll make some tea, I think it's going to be a long night." Molly said, walking into the kitchen. She cast one more look back at the unconscious Molly and then wiped her tears on the back of her hand. The perpetrator had better hope that Harry caught him, because if Molly Weasley did he would go the same way as Bellatrix, you don't hurt the Weasley family and get away with it.

* * *

A/N So things are going from bad to worse, to possibly a bit better for Molly. What do you think?

Next chapter; Molly wakes up but things don't go as well as she hopes.

Thanks to mozie for beta-ing!

witchprincess33- Lol, thanks!

Guest- I know it's sad about Ted and Victoire, it makes Molly more vulnerable though.

xXMizz Alec VolturiXx- Thanks, they're not blind anymore, yay!

Tiffany- Do you like Percy a little bit more now?

LUG-14- Thanks, I'm glad you find it creepy, that is what I'm aiming for!


	5. November

November

When Molly opened her eyes she was in her father's old room at the Burrow. It was daylight and Molly felt disorientated, she didn't know what day it was or how long she'd been here.

Within a minute of her waking up the door opened and her father, Grandmother and Uncle Harry walked in.

"Hello Molly, how are you feeling dear?" Her Grandma asked, sitting on the bed.

"What day is it?" She asked.

"It's a Saturday. You've been asleep for a few days." Uncle Harry said and Molly looked up at him.

"You stunned me."

"Sorry Molly, I didn't want to but you could have hurt your mother, do you remember?" Molly nodded.

"Let's go downstairs Molly, we can have a talk and a cup of tea." Her Grandma said and Molly nodded again and climbed out of the bed. Her father passed her a dressing gown and she followed them all downstairs. Her Granddad was sat at the table and he smiled at Molly as she sat next to him.

Her Grandma made the tea and within a few minutes her mother and Ted arrived and they all sat around the table. She was passed a cup of tea but she didn't drink it.

"Molly, drink the tea. It's safe." Uncle Harry said but Molly shook her head and pushed it away.

"You lied to me, _you_ stunned me." She said, looking at Harry.

"Molly listen, we didn't lie to you. Harry had to stun you." Molly shook her head.

"I went to your flat, with Ron."

"Did you find the letters, in the shoeboxes by the fireplace?" She asked, looking up at him.

"No Molly, we didn't find any letters."

"What? No… they were by the fireplace, all of them!"

"We looked everywhere, we searched the whole flat."

"He took them, he must have taken them before you went in…"

"Victoire sealed the flat. No one went in." Molly thought for a moment and then shook her head in realisation, they didn't believe her!

"You… you don't believe me, do you?" She looked over at Ted and then around the table and they all avoided her eye, Ted answered.

"Molls, I analysed your blood, at the hospital."

"Did you find out why the potion didn't work?"

"Yes, I did."

"He was poisoning the food, wasn't he? And the water?"

"We didn't find any traces of potions."

"What? But, why didn't the potion work?"

"Molly… you were drunk, your blood alcohol was…"

"NO! He switched the samples, you… I can't believe you don't believe me!"

"Look at me, pumpkin." Her father said sternly and Molly looked at him with fearful eyes. "We believe…we believe that _you_ believe that you were stalked."

"What?"

"The mind is a powerful thing, Molly." Ted said and Molly looked at him.

"You think I'm crazy!"

"No, Molly, not crazy. We think you might be ill." Uncle Harry said.

"No… he's real… he sent me flowers and took pictures and…" Molly stood up and looked around at her family; they were all shaking their heads and looking at her with sad expressions.

"Molly, the campaign party, blackmailing Banks… you're ill."

"I didn't drink at the… he spiked my drink!"

"Molly, calm down, please, drink your tea." Her Grandma said, with tears pouring down her face. Molly looked at the cup and then at her Grandma.

"No… you don't understand it's not safe!" Molly picked up the cup and threw it across the room, it hit the window and both cup and window shattered. Everyone stood up and Harry pulled out his wand.

"Molly, stay calm, we want to get you some help, you need to go to hospital…"

"No! You promised you would catch him, Uncle Harry! You promised!"

"We can't catch someone that doesn't exist…"

"You saw the flowers, you saw the flowers!" Molly looked at Ted and her Grandparents.

"Bill tracked the purchase, it came from your account." Her father said. Molly shook her head.

"No… he's done this… he… please you have to…"

"Molly, we're going to take you to the hospital now." Her mother said, standing up. Molly staggered towards the corner of the kitchen and picked up a knife from the draining board. She didn't want to hurt them, she wanted them to listen, to believe her.

"Molly, put the knife down." Her Uncle said, pointing his wand at her; a disarmed knife would be hard to catch, it could fly anywhere. If stunned she could hurt herself.

"You have to listen to me! He's behind everything… I'm not crazy!"

"Put the knife down, Molly, you'll be fine, you'll be safe in hospital." Ted said, coming so that he was standing next to his godfather.

"No, he'll find me there… you promised you would keep me safe… you promised Uncle Harry!"

Suddenly Ted lunged at her and she dropped the knife in surprise; she didn't want to hurt him, he was supposed to be her best friend. Ted pushed Molly to the floor and then injected a potion into her thigh.

"No… Ted please! He's real, he's real!"

"I'm sorry Molly, you'll get better, I promise." He said and Molly felt the potion fogging her brain and she sagged against him.

"You… all… lied…"

"We're trying to help you…" Her Uncle's voice faded and Molly knew no more.

* * *

Molly returned from the hospital with her husband and son. It had been horrible; they had sectioned young Molly to two months and had diagnosed her as a paranoid schizophrenic, brought about by stress and a cripplingly low self-esteem. Molly knew that Percy blamed himself but she didn't know what to say to convince him otherwise.

They had started Molly on a potion regime and put her in an enchanted sleep for a week, to let the potions work through her system before they woke her up and started counselling.

"I'm going to withdraw from the election." Percy said, as they sat down at the kitchen table.

"I don't think that's the right thing to do son, when Molly gets better, she'll blame herself." Arthur said, passing out the tea.

"It's my fault she's like this; we put too much pressure on her."

"We don't know that." Molly said, although in her heart she suspected that her son was right. Molly had always been so unlike the rest of them.

"Perhaps she's been ill for a long time, since Hogwarts even?" Percy said. "We should have spotted something! I should have noticed!"

"Molly has always been different, that doesn't mean she was always ill. We need to focus on getting her better, not thinking back." Arthur said.

"I can't believe she grabbed that knife, I shouldn't have left it there!" Molly said, looking into the corner that her Grand-daughter had staggered into.

"Do you think she wanted to hurt us?" Percy asked.

"No." Arthur said sharply. "She was terrified, like a cornered animal."

"I just… do you think she'll ever trust us again?" Percy looked up at his father but Molly answered.

"You heard the healer, they don't think she'll be able to remember any of it, she was in the middle of a breakdown, she wasn't thinking clearly."

"Merlin, I wish I could forget it." Percy said and Molly and Arthur nodded.

* * *

Molly woke up and had such a severe headache that she screamed out in agony and put her hands to her head, trying to find some relief.

"Miss Weasley? You're in hospital… don't panic…" Molly didn't recognise the voice and didn't care who it was, all she cared about was the pain, the agony she was in. It was like her brain was trying to explode.

She rolled onto her side and into the foetal position and screamed.

"Calm down, Miss Weasley…" It was a different voice but still Molly didn't care.

"…sedate her… hallucinating…"

Molly eyes were clamped shut and she was pushing on her head with all the force she could possibly muster but she still couldn't feel it.

She felt someone grab her arm and inject something and she hoped it would relieve the pain. She could feel the mystery potion track up her arm and when it reached her shoulder she felt herself relax. The pain was starting to fade but so was her awareness of everything.

"Just relax, you're safe here." A female voice said. Molly tried to open her eyes to see who it was but the potion was too strong and she drifted back into the darkness.

* * *

Molly opened her eyes again and everything was floating, even she was floating. She had no idea where she was but she didn't care; she felt such inner peace that she didn't care where she was, she didn't even care who she was.

There were flashes of light and sounds. She could see some turquoise and she wondered if it was Ted, the turquoise faded and Molly closed her eyes again.

* * *

Agony

* * *

Floating

* * *

Agony

* * *

Floating

* * *

Ted looked down at his best friend; it had nearly a month since she had been admitted to St. Mungo's and the mind healers still hadn't got her medication right. She would either be screaming in rage or completely apathetic and she seemed to have absolutely no interest in her surroundings. Or in getting better.

"Ted, how is she today?" Aunt Ginny asked, walking up to him. Every day she would have at least four visitors but she didn't even seem to notice.

"Nothing, just staring." He said, looking at his Aunt.

"Poor thing, do they have any idea why it's taking her so long to respond to treatment?"

"No, it could be that she's been ill for so long that her body doesn't think it's wrong so it's fighting the treatment."

"How long?"

"Years perhaps. Has Uncle Percy decided what to do yet?"

"No, he wants to wait to talk to Molly."

* * *

Agony

* * *

Floating

* * *

Agony

* * *

A/N So, things didn't pan out in the way Molly expected, any thoughts?

Next chapter; Molly starts counselling and is allowed to the Burrow for Christmas.

Thanks to mozie for beta-ing!

GTH- Thanks.

xXMizz Alec VolturiXx- I'm dragging out the drama!

witchprincess33- See, you only had to wait two weeks! Now you have to wait a month!

Guest- Thanks.

LUG-14- Lol, the story s fairly short (for me anyway), I've written to February and then I'll probably do an epilogue.


	6. December

DECEMBER

Molly opened her eyes and the pain was more like a mild hang-over, the floating more like being a little bit drunk.

"Miss Weasley, can you hear me?"

Molly turned towards the voice but did not recognise the witch.

"I'm Healer Crowley, you can call me Kathryn. How are you feeling?"

"My head… hurts."

"Okay, I can give you a potion for that."

"No… not safe… he'll find me…"

"When did you first meet him? Xxx?"

"I haven't… not in person…" Molly looked back up at the ceiling, she couldn't believe her family thought she was crazy.

"When did you first hear from him?"

"Sent me flowers… in September…"

"Can you remember that day? What happened?" Molly tried to think back.

"Got demoted."

"That must have been difficult. How did the flowers make you feel?"

"Confused… they were nice though… to start with…"

"Have you ever gotten flowers before?"

"In Hogwarts… I was sick…"

"Who sent them to you?"

"My Dad."

"Were you worried about telling him about the demotion?"

"Yes… always disappointed… poor Molly… must try harder Molly… be more like Lucy, Molly…"

"Lucy is your sister?"

"Perfect Lucy… head girl Lucy… qualified Lucy…" Molly felt like she was singing the words.

* * *

Molly watched the counselling session from the other side of the glass, thankful that her Granddaughter was finally capable of responding to people. They were still not allowed to sit with her. She must think they had abandoned her.

* * *

"Morning, Molly, how are you feeling today?"

"Go away… floating… floating today…." Molly said, not looking at the witch who had been her only visitor.

"Do you like floating, Molly?"

"Nice… floating…"

"Does alcohol make you feel like you're floating?"

"Don't drink… not safe…"

"You do drink Molly, can you remember?"

"Remember… remember… why can't Molly remember?"

"What's your favourite memory, Molly?"

"Writing… writing…"

"You like writing? Would you like me to bring you some parchment and a pencil so you can write?" Molly nodded but did not reply.

* * *

"Can we take her home, for Christmas?" Percy asked, looking at Healer Crowley.

"I would ordinarily advice against it but I don't think isolation is helping her. If you keep a Healer with her you can take her home for the day."

"My nephew, could it be him? Ted Lupin?"

"Yes, I'll arrange a meeting with him to go through the potions regime and symptoms."

* * *

Molly walked into the Burrow with her father and Ted on Christmas morning feeling hung-over again. She hadn't had a clear head for months, her life was a permanent fog.

"Molly, Merry Christmas!" Said her Grandma, moving over to hug her.

"I haven't bought any presents." Molly said, not getting any pleasure from her release, emotional detachment was apparently a side-effect.

"That's okay, you're a present in yourself. Come in and sit down." Molly sat next to her Uncle Ron who was playing chess with Uncle Harry.

"Hi Molly, how are you feeling?" He asked.

"Emotional detachment." She replied.

"Oh, alright then." Said Uncle Ron, looking awkward.

"Hi Molly." Said Hugo, sitting next to her, Molly noticed his father feel for his wand, just in case.

"Wanted you to be in Hufflepuff."

"Sorry, Molly." Hugo said, looking down.

"Hugo the Hufflepuff, Hufflepuff Hugo."

"Why don't you go and play with Lily, Hugo?" Ted said, sitting down next to Molly. Hugo slipped out of the room.

"Molly, do you want to play chess?" Ted asked, Molly nodded but when Ted set the board up she moved all the pieces in an erratic fashion, completely disregarding any rules or order to the game.

At lunch time she stared at her plate but did not eat any food, no one said anything, not wanting to push her with the younger children present. After the meal Molly, Ted, Percy and Audrey stayed in the kitchen and the others went into the sitting room to open presents.

"Where's Lucy?" Molly asked, staring at the table.

"She's with Brian's family today." Her mother said quietly.

"Clock's broken. Broken clock is right twice a day. Clock's broken."

"What clock, Molly?" Her father asked.

"Grandma's clock." They all turned to look at the clock, Ted had even noticed that Molly had looked at the clock.

"It's right Molly. It's not broken." He said, turning back to her.

"Molly's at the Burrow."

"That's right, you are." Her mother said, looking like she wanted to reach out for her daughter's hand.

"No, Molly's lost. Lost Molly, Poor Molly, Silly Molly…"

"Molly, stop it." Ted said, holding her hand.

"Why?" She asked actually looking up at him. "You wanted this Ted, drink the potion Molly, it's safe Molly, I won't leave you Molly. Lying Teddy Lupin, Lupin liar, liar Lupin."

"We've got your presents, Molly." Said her Grandma, walking into the room with a small pile which she placed in front of Molly.

Molly opened the first present, it was a Weasley jumper for her Grandma.

"That's nice, isn't it Molly? Do you want to put it on?" Her mother asked, unfolding the yellow jumper with a black 'M' on the front.

"No."

"Okay, maybe later. Here, this present is from Lucy and Brian." Molly took the present that her mother offered and looked at the label.

_Dear Molly,_

_Merry Christmas,_

_Love Lucy and Brian_

_Xxx_

Molly stared at the label, Xxx, that was sick. Her sister was sick. Kathryn had been telling her for weeks that Xxx didn't exist, that Molly had made him up.

"Molly? Are you alright?" Ted asked, concerned at the suddenly angry expression on his friend's face.

Molly picked up the present and threw it across the room where it collided with the one of her Grandma's cookbook shelves, causing the present and the books to crash to the floor.

"MOLLY, NO!"

Molly wasn't sure who shouted at her but she didn't really care. She pushed the rest of the presents away from her and then stared at the table top again.

Uncle Harry and Ron ran into the room with their wands drawn.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Molly, why did you do that?" Asked her father.

"Label." Molly replied in a monotonous voice.

"What about the label?" Asked Ted as Ron walked over to the smashed present and picked it up.

"Fuck." He muttered, before showing it to the others, Molly kept her eyes on the table.

"Okay Molly, I'm sure Lucy just wasn't thinking."

"Lucy, Lucy, always Lucy, never Molly, always Lucy." Molly sang, picking at her fingernails.

Her parents looked at each other but did not comment. Ted reached out to Molly's hands again.

"Do you want to open the rest of the presents, Molly? We'll check the labels?" He asked but Molly shook her head.

"Molly's not allowed things."

"What do you mean?"

"Molly can't even have a quill, she might stab herself." She replied, pulling her hands away from Ted.

"Molly wants to write but she might kill herself with the parchment."

"You can write now, if you want Molly, we can get you some…"

"Who told you about me writing?" Molly yelled, looking up at Ted.

"You did, do you…"

"No, you've been in my flat! On my computer…"

"I haven't Molly, calm down. I'm going to take you back to the hospital now."

"Going to give me potions again, try and make me into someone else?"

"That's not what the potions are for, they're to make me better." Ted replied.

"Which one are you going to give me, Ted? The one that makes my head explode or the one that makes me float?"

"Come on, Molly. It's time to go now." He said, standing up.

"Which one, Ted?" She asked again.

"Uncle Harry, can you come with us?"

"WHICH ONE, TED?" Molly screamed.

"Molly, calm down." Said her Uncle and Molly turned to him.

"Going to stun me, Uncle Harry?" She asked, quietly.

"I didn't know you'd remember…"

"I remember, Molly always remembers. She remembers your promise! 'We'll keep you safe, Molly. Everything's going to be okay now, Molly. I promise I won't leave you alone, Molly!'"

"I'm sorry, Molly." Said her Uncle sternly.

"I'll forgive you, Uncle Harry, I promise, Molly won't though." She heard her father cry behind her and she turned to him.

"Don't worry Daddy, I remember you too, 'I'll stay, I won't leave you until it's over'. Daddy lies, everyone lies to Molly."

"Molly, enough, it's time to go now." Said Ted, taking her arm. Molly walked out with Ted and didn't look back at her family.

Her Grandmother sat at the table next to her son.

"That poor girl. She's just…"

"Gone." Said Percy, rubbing his wife's back.

"That's not Molly, that's not my Molly." Said Audrey with tears pouring down her face.

"They said she wouldn't remember anything!" Said Ron, picking up the books and putting them on the table next to Molly's unopened present.

"Merlin, she remembers everything, she hates us!" Said Percy, slamming his fist on the table.

"Maybe when they finish the treatment she won't remember… when she's better." Molly said, putting her hand on her mouth.

"And what the hell was Lucy thinking? Signing it with 'Xxx', how could she be so thoughtless, I'm not surprised Molly threw it!" Said Ron, picking up the label and looking at it closely.

"She'll be here later, I'll talk to her." Percy said but his younger brother looked at him angrily.

"You don't need to 'talk' to her, Perce! You need to yell at her, this is one thing that Molly's got right in all this, you never treated them equally, never…"

"Ron, enough! It's not the time to start turning on each other." Said Arthur, angrily from the doorway, Ron sat down, still holding the label but did not comment further.

* * *

"Okay Molly, the purpose of this meeting is to decide if you can go home. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I want to go home." Molly said, anything to be out of this place.

"Good, now do you feel safe?"

"Here, or in general?" Molly asked.

"Both."

"Yes" Molly replied, knowing what they wanted to hear.

"And do you think Xxx is real?"

"No, he's a figment of my imagination, a disease of my deep-seated self-esteem issues and illness that went untreated for too long." Molly replied, she wasn't even lying. She knew Xxx was not real.

"Do you remember what happened before you came in here? Do you remember attacking your mother?"

"No." Molly lied, they didn't think she should remember.

They talked for another few minutes and then Kathryn stood up and walked out of the room. When she returned Molly's parents were behind her.

"You can come home, Molly!" Said her mother, looking pleased. "Just in time for the new year as well." Molly nodded but did not smile.

"You'll stay with us for a few weeks, just so we know everything's okay, and then you can move back to your flat." Molly nodded at her father's words.

Kathryn gave her a huge bag of potions and some sheets of paperwork and then she returned to her childhood home. It was quiet there and Molly didn't like silence, silence made your imagination play tricks on you, made you make things up.

"Are you hungry?" Her mother asked and Molly nodded. She should eat, eating was important.

"What do you want to eat?" Her father asked, sitting down next to her. They were being so nice to her that Molly found it unnatural.

"I don't care." She replied, it was hard to pretend all the time.

When Molly lay in bed that night she looked up at the ceiling. Her head was still foggy, the potions were horrible and she had a near-constant headache but the healers didn't want to change the potion schedule so she had to live with it.

Her father had discussed dropping out of the election but she had told him to carry on, he was a good Minister and she didn't want him to quit because of her. He would resent her for it.

Her mother wanted her to take her NEWT's again, when she was feeling better. Her parents were convinced that she had been ill since Hogwarts and that that was why she was so different, so stupid. Molly couldn't be bothered to disagree with them at the moment, she just wanted to keep the peace and stay out of the hospital.

* * *

A/N So Molly has finally been discharged, I hope all of your Christmas' are better than hers!

Luna- Happy birthday! Hope you have a great day xxx

Dave- Thanks.

GTH- I'm a firm believer that all mental health problems need a combination of treatments (drugs and talking) and I can't imagine the Wizarding world being that different.

xXMizz Alec VolturiXx- Thanks.

witchprincess33- Are you still furious?


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